Kaposi's sarcoma: evaluation of clinical features, treatment outcomes and prognosis in a single-center retrospective case series

Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a low-grade vascular tumor associated with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8) infection. There are four widely recognized types of KS including classic, endemic, iatrogenic, and epidemic forms. Although in most cases KS is an indolent disease limited to the skin, it may have a more aggressive behavior resulting in locally aggressive disease and/or involving mucosae or visceral organs, especially in immunosuppressed patients. The main risk factors are HHV-8 infection and immunosuppression status. Treatment is very heterogenous because there is still no unified strategy for the treatment of KS. The aim of this study is to describe the demographic and clinical features, treatment outcomes and prognosis of a cohort of patients affected by KS treated at the University Hospital of Padua (AOPD) and at the Veneto Institute of Oncology (IOV) between 1993 and 2022.