Abstract:
Objectives: Evaluation of outcomes in the use of single-
agent gemcitabine for the treatment of AIDS-associated
Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) in a western Kenyan cancer treat-
ment program. Methods: Retrospective chart review of all
patients with KS treated with single agent gemcitabine fol-
lowing failure of first-line Adriamycin, bleomycin, and vin-
cristine (ABV). Baseline demographics were collected, and
clinicians’ assessments of response were utilized to fill out
objective criteria for both response as well as symptom ben-
efit assessment. Results: Twenty-three patients with KS who
had previously failed first-line therapy with ABV were evalu-
ated. Following treatment, 22 of the 23 patients responded
positively to treatment with stable disease or better. Of the
18 patients who had completed therapy, with a median fol-
low-up of 5 months, 12 patients had no documented progression. Conclusions: Treatment options in the resource-
constrained setting are limited, both by financial constraints
as well as the need to avoid myelotoxicity, which is associ-
ated with high morbidity in this treatment setting. This work
shows that gemcitabine has promising activity in KS, with
both objective responses and clinical benefit observed in
this care setting. Gemcitabine as a single merits fur-
ther investigation for AIDS-associated KS.
