Radiotherapy for Kaposi's Sarcoma (KS)

Kaposi's sarcoma is a painless, raised multiple bluish-red skin disease, appearing in elderly immuno-incompetant Black males from Central and Southern Africa. Because of the sensitivity of the normal surrounding tissue, cancerocidal doses of radiotherapy cannot be given. Superficial x-ray therapy is inadequate for controlling manifestations of deeper extension of the disease. With judicious dose-time-energy planning, excellent results can be obtained with modified doses of radiotherapy. A time-dose analysis indicates that the effective dose was of the order of a 1000 rads at a single exposure