Treatment of kaposi's sarcoma with a combination of actinomycin D and vincristine

Abstract

Twenty-four patients with aggressive forms of Kaposi's sarcoma were treated with either Actinomycin D or Actinomycin D plus vincristine in a randomized clinical trial. Of 10 patients in the actinomycin alone group there were 4 complete and 5 partial responses. Of 14 patients receiving the combination there were 10 complete and 3 partial responses. The relapse rate thus far is 25% and 40% in each group respectively. A correlation was voted between the clinical response, histology, and tumor size, and the possibility remains that the response differences in the two treatment groups may be independent of the treatment regimens. Nevertheless, both treatment schedules were well tolerated and the results of this trial have led to the design of a new trial testing the efficacy of three drug combination therapy in Kaposi's sarcoma.