Important note: Information in this article was accurate in November 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.AIDSWEEKLY Plus; November 18, 2002
Michael Greer, Senior Medical Writer
"Liposomal anthracyclines and paclitaxel are considered the best available cytotoxic therapies for Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), but relapse is common," explained Scott R. Evans and colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health and other institutions in Boston, New York City, and Chicago.
A low-dose oral etoposide regimen stabilized or reversed disease progression - and improved overall quality of life - for most patients in an early study, Evans and coauthors reported.
The researchers enrolled 36 patients with relapsed or progressive KS for a phase II study of oral etoposide. Study participants received 50 mg doses of the antineoplastic agent daily on alternating weeks, they said, with a dose escalation to 100 mg per day for nonresponding patients without severe treatment-induced toxicity.
The overall response rate was 36.1%, with 1 complete and 12 partial responses to etoposide therapy, study data showed. Five of these patients responded after dose escalation. The median time needed for a response to treatment was roughly 18 weeks, Evans and coauthors noted, with responses lasting a median of 25 weeks.
Severe neutropenia and opportunistic infections were the most common side effects of etoposide therapy (Phase II evaluation of low-dose oral etoposide for the treatment of relapsed or progressive AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma: An AIDS clinical trials group clinical study. J Clin Oncol 2002 Aug 1;20(15):3236-41.
Evans and colleagues concluded that "low-dose oral etoposide at a dose of 50 mg/d is safe and effective for the treatment of refractory or progressed AIDS-related KS and has an overall positive effect on the quality of life of responding patients."
The corresponding author for this report is Scott R. Evans, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Dept. of Medicine, 676 North St. Clair St., Suite 850, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Key points reported in this study include:
This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.
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