Vinorelbine therapy in classic Kaposi’s sarcoma: A retrospective study of 20 patients

Background: Systemic chemotherapy is the main treatment of diffuse and/or aggressive classic Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) but there are no standard treatment guidelines and published literature regarding vinorelbine is lacking. Objectives: To assess the safety and effectiveness of intra-venous vinorelbine in the treatment of classic KS. Materials & methods: We performed a retrospective study of a departmental database in histologically proven classic KS. Results: Twenty patients received intra- venous vinorelbine as cycles of 20 mg/m² once every two weeks for 5 cycles and subsequently at a dose of 30 mg/m² once every three weeks. Of 19 assessable patients, three (16%) had a complete remission and 11 (58%) had a partial response, for an overall response rate of 74%. The remaining 5 patients had a stable disease (26%). Grade 3 or 4 toxicities were neutropenia (3/20 patients), deep vein thrombosis (1/20 patients) and constipation (1/20 patients). The median progression-free survival from the start of therapy until the development of progressive disease was 35.1 months. Conclusion: Vinorelbine is an effective and overall well tolerated treatment for classic KS.