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The number of HIV patients with Kaposi sarcoma (KS) has declined sharply due to the use of antiretroviral drugs, according to a European study released last month.

The once-rare cancer initially appears as a discolored skin lesion, although it can also develop in the lungs, liver and other internal organs. As it became one of the most common ailments afflicting AIDS patients during the early period of the epidemic in the 1980s, it stood as a marker for the disease. Following the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the mid-1990s, anecdotal data and small studies suggested KS cases were declining as the new drugs suppressed HIV levels in patients' blood, allowing their immune systems to recover. However, the European study provides the first conclusive indication of a link between therapy and declining cases of KS.

The annual incidence of KS fell 39 percent between 1994 and 2003, according to the study of nearly 10,000 HIV-positive patients by the Royal Free and University College in London and a handful of other European hospitals and treatment centers. Participants with a higher current CD4 count or who had been on HAART for a longer period of time had a decreased incidence of KS, researchers found.

from Reuters