TOPLINE:

A serial cross-sectional study of patients with Kaposi sarcoma (KS) identified a distinct early-onset subgroup of HIV-negative men younger than 65 years, with 82.4% being men who have sex with men (MSM), that demonstrated an indolent clinical course with low use of systemic chemotherapy.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a serial cross-sectional study of 318 participants with KS from two tertiary care academic centers in California from January 2010 to February 2022.
• Participants were categorized into five subgroups: HIV-associated KS stratified by CD4 count (< 200, 201-350, and > 350 cells/μL) at diagnosis (70.5% of participants); classic KS (HIV-negative individuals aged 65 years or older; 15.7%); iatrogenic KS (HIV-negative individuals on immunosuppressive medications; 2.8%); early-onset KS (HIV-negative individuals younger than 65 years; 10.7%; all were male); and endemic KS (HIV-negative individuals from sub-Saharan Africa).
• Clinical outcomes included disease status (resolution vs stable or progressive) at last follow-up and treatment modalities used.

TAKEAWAY:

• Early-onset KS predominantly affected MSM (82.4% of participants).
• Local therapy was the most common treatment among participants with early-onset KS (82.4%) and was more likely to be used to treat this group than those with classic KS (odds ratio, 2.86; 95% CI, 1.00-8.18).
• Use of systemic chemotherapy in early-onset KS was low, with only 5.9% of participants in this category receiving it as first-line treatment.
• Disease resolution occurred in 41.2% of early-onset KS cases (HIV-negative) at follow-up.

IN PRACTICE:

“This study characterizes sociodemographic and clinical characteristics among a large group of participants diagnosed with KS and notably describes an early-onset KS subgroup, a presentation of KS among HIV-negative men < 65 years old,” the study authors wrote. “Identification of early-onset KS underscores the changing clinical presentation of KS in the USA and the need for prospective multicenter registries integrating clinical, virologic, and immunologic data,” they added.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Devin Barzallo, MD, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, and was published online on April 24 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

LIMITATIONS:

The study had limited generalizability due to its setting in two tertiary centers and relied on subjective outcome measures.

DISCLOSURES:

No funding sources were reported for this research. The authors disclosed having no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.