Therapeutic trial of interferon-gamma in patients with epidemic Kaposi's sarcoma.
Keywords
Abstract
An epidemic form of Kaposi's sarcoma associated with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome has been recently described. Seven homosexual men with biopsy-documented epidemic Kaposi's sarcoma were treated with a human interferon-gamma preparation. All patients had generalized disease. Only one patient had received prior chemotherapy, and one other patient had recovered from a prior opportunistic infection. Interferon-gamma was administered in a dose of 500,000 U intramuscularly daily, with two 10-day induction courses, separated by a 2-week medication-free period. This was followed by maintenance therapy in the same dose twice weekly. Toxicities consisted of a flu-like illness with high fevers, shaking chills, myalgias, and arthralgias. There were no complete or partial responses. All patients exhibited disease progression, with a rapid progression of previously stable disease necessitating discontinuation of therapy in three patients. We conclude that low doses of this human interferon-gamma preparation are ineffective in epidemic Kaposi's sarcoma.