Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Journal of Cancer logoLink to British Journal of Cancer
. 1994 Feb;69(2):333–336. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1994.60

Kaposi's sarcoma in Italy before and after the AIDS epidemic.

M Geddes 1, S Franceschi 1, A Barchielli 1, F Falcini 1, S Carli 1, G Cocconi 1, E Conti 1, P Crosignani 1, L Gafà 1, L Giarelli 1, et al.
PMCID: PMC1968687  PMID: 8297730

Abstract

The incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in 1976-90 was assessed in Italy, taking advantage of a network of nine population-based cancer registries covering, at its maximum, approximately 5.6 million subjects. The first examined period (1976-84) substantially reflects the epidemiology of KS prior to the AIDS epidemic in the registration areas. Elevated incidence rates, standardised to the Italian population of 1981, of 1.05/100,000 men and 0.27/100,000 women emerged in 1976-84 (i.e. from two- to threefold higher than in the USA and Sweden, more than tenfold higher than in England and Wales). These high rates, especially remarkable in the Registry from the south of Italy (i.e. Ragusa, 3.01/100,000 men and 0.54/100,000 women) suggest that the prevalence of the still unknown causative agent for KS was high, at least in some parts of Italy, prior to the AIDS epidemic. In the most recent period (1985-90), an approximately twofold increase in KS incidence rates in Italian men below age 50 was observed (from 0.15 in 1976-84 to 0.47 in 1985-90). Conversely, declines in KS incidence were recorded in older men.

Full text

PDF
333

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bendsöe N., Dictor M., Blomberg J., Agren S., Merk K. Increased incidence of Kaposi sarcoma in Sweden before the AIDS epidemic. Eur J Cancer. 1990;26(6):699–702. doi: 10.1016/0277-5379(90)90120-i. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Beral V., Bull D., Darby S., Weller I., Carne C., Beecham M., Jaffe H. Risk of Kaposi's sarcoma and sexual practices associated with faecal contact in homosexual or bisexual men with AIDS. Lancet. 1992 Mar 14;339(8794):632–635. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(92)90793-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Beral V., Peterman T. A., Berkelman R. L., Jaffe H. W. Kaposi's sarcoma among persons with AIDS: a sexually transmitted infection? Lancet. 1990 Jan 20;335(8682):123–128. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(90)90001-l. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Biggar R. J., Horm J., Fraumeni J. F., Jr, Greene M. H., Goedert J. J. Incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma and mycosis fungoides in the United States including Puerto Rico, 1973-81. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1984 Jul;73(1):89–94. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dalgleish A. G. Kaposi's sarcoma. Br J Cancer. 1991 Jul;64(1):3–6. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1991.229. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dictor M., Attewell R. Epidemiology of Kaposi's sarcoma in Sweden prior to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Int J Cancer. 1988 Sep 15;42(3):346–351. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910420307. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Giraldo G., Beth E., Huang E. S. Kaposi's sarcoma and its relationship to cytomegalovirus (CMNV). III. CMV DNA and CMV early antigens in Kaposi's sarcoma. Int J Cancer. 1980 Jul 15;26(1):23–29. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910260105. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Grulich A. E., Beral V., Swerdlow A. J. Kaposi's sarcoma in England and Wales before the AIDS epidemic. Br J Cancer. 1992 Dec;66(6):1135–1137. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1992.423. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Levi F., Franceschi S., La Vecchia C. Kaposi's sarcoma in the Swiss Canton of Vaud, 1974-1990. Eur J Cancer. 1993;29A(13):1918–1919. doi: 10.1016/0959-8049(93)90562-t. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lo S. C. Isolation and identification of a novel virus from patients with AIDS. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1986 Jul;35(4):675–676. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1986.35.675. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. OETTLE A. G. Geographical and racial differences in the frequency of Kaposi's sarcoma as evidence of environmental or genetic causes. Acta Unio Int Contra Cancrum. 1962;18:330–363. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Penn I. Secondary neoplasms as a consequence of transplantation and cancer therapy. Cancer Detect Prev. 1988;12(1-6):39–57. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Piette W. W. The incidence of second malignancies in subsets of Kaposi's sarcoma. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1987 Apr;16(4):855–861. doi: 10.1016/s0190-9622(87)70112-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rappersberger K., Tschachler E., Zonzits E., Gillitzer R., Hatzakis A., Kaloterakis A., Mann D. L., Popow-Kraupp T., Biggar R. J., Berger R. Endemic Kaposi's sarcoma in human immunodeficiency virus type 1-seronegative persons: demonstration of retrovirus-like particles in cutaneous lesions. J Invest Dermatol. 1990 Oct;95(4):371–381. doi: 10.1111/1523-1747.ep12555450. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Ross R. K., Casagrande J. T., Dworsky R. L., Levine A., Mack T. Kaposi's sarcoma in Los Angeles, California. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1985 Dec;75(6):1011–1015. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Safai B., Miké V., Giraldo G., Beth E., Good R. A. Association of Kaposi's sarcoma with second primary malignancies: possible etiopathogenic implications. Cancer. 1980 Mar 15;45(6):1472–1479. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19800315)45:6<1472::aid-cncr2820450629>3.0.co;2-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Serraino D., Franceschi S., Tirelli U., Monfardini S. The epidemiology of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and associated tumours in Europe. Ann Oncol. 1992 Sep;3(8):595–603. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.annonc.a058283. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Serraino D., Zaccarelli M., Franceschi S., Greco D. The epidemiology of AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma in Italy. AIDS. 1992 Sep;6(9):1015–1019. doi: 10.1097/00002030-199209000-00016. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Cancer are provided here courtesy of Cancer Research UK

RESOURCES