Radiation All forms of KS are sensitive to radiation therapy . Radiation is clearly useful for
lesions that are cosmetically disturbing, painful, involve the mouth extensively, block lymphatics, bleed or protrude greatly from the skin. Response rates are quite high and treatment is usually well tolerated.
The normal tissues of the mouth, however, are very sensitive to radiation in KS related to AIDS, resulting in a poor tolerance to treatment. The surfaces of the mouth may become inflamed or ulcerated. The treatment itself is painless, but the resulting sore mouth can be quite uncomfortable during the time needed for healing, usually several days. Anesthetic mouthwashes are often advised to control pain and speed the healing.
Local radiation usually uses energy beams that do not penetrate deeply into the body. Different centers use various combinations of numbers of treatments and dose per individual treatment, ranging from one single high dose to small doses five days a week for four or five weeks. Response rates appear roughly similar with the different methods.
The use of small doses of radiation over half the body and very superficial radiation (electron beam) to the entire body over many weeks is being investigated.
Chemotherapy Because of the small number of patients, response rates of classic KS to
chemotherapy are not well known. The disease is highly responsive to Velban , with response rates in the range of 90 percent. Very little information is available on the response to other drugs, although it would be logical to assume similar responsiveness of epidemic KS to the common chemotherapy agents.
