Biological Therapy Immunologic treatment of KS is mainly a study of the effects of the
interferons , mainly alpha.
Other agents, especially interleukin-2, are being studied but there is not yet clear data on their effects. Patients interested in these biologic response modifiers should ask their doctors for more information.
• There is not much data on the effects of interferon on classic KS, but because this form of the disease does not
involve an immunologic defect, responses to this agent are not likely.
• Drug-induced KS is often very responsive to removing whichever agent depressed the body's immune system
in the first place. When this is done, regressions of the disease, often complete, frequently occur.
• The most information on the effects of interferon is available with respect to HIV-associated KS. Treatment
produces responses independent of the site of involvement or the amount of tumor present, which is a most
unusual finding in cancer treatment.
• Both survival and the response rate drop if there are symptoms (fever, sweating, weight loss), opportunistic
infections or low T4 cell counts. In one study, 45 percent of patients with T4 cell counts over 400 responded\
to chemotherapy , but only 2 percent of those with T4 cell counts less than 100 responded. There is some
suggestion of an increase in survival if the amount of KS decreases, but final data are not yet available.
