Kaposi's sarcoma in the bantu of mozambique

Abstract

Kaposi's sarcoma in the Bantu of Mozambique is relatively common (2.11% of all tumors for both sexes), with an incidence of 2.2 cases per 100,000 population per annum. The adjusted sex ratio is low (3.5 males to 1 female). Although the average age of males is 50 to 54 years (with 35.6% of the diagnoses made before 40 years), there is a real tendency towards an increasing incidence with aging. In only one patient did a malignant lymphoma occur simultaneously with a Kaposi's sarcoma. The extraordinary low frequency of this association in Africa is discussed. In seven cases there was histologically proven nodal involvement, and, in one autopay, there were metastases in the spleen considered to be suggestive of an intimate relationship with the reticuloendothelial system. The autopsies demonstrated the existence of blood-borne metastases besides the systematic and multicentric nature of the disease.