Trends and histopathological patterns of Kaposi sarcoma at the university of Benin teaching hospital, Benin city, Nigeria

Abstract EN

Objectives: Kaposi sarcoma (KS) shows greater geographic variation in incidence than almost any other vascular tumor globally.

KS is common in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 9% of all diagnosed cancer cases in men in the early 1990’s in Uganda and Zaire.

KS is classified by the World Health Organization as a borderline vascular tumor.

We aimed to determine the trends and histopathological patterns of KS as seen in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital in Benin City, Nigeria, and to compare with similar work in other centers.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of all histologically confirmed KS seen over a 20-year period at the Pathology Department of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital.

Results: A total of 269 histologically diagnosed vascular tumors were analyzed.

Of these, borderline tumors constituted 30.9% (n = 83).

KS constituted 79 (95.2%) out of the 83 borderline vascular tumors.

Out of the 79 cases of KS, 76 (96.2%) cases were confirmed in HIV/AIDS patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy.

The male to female ratio of KS was 1.1:1.0 while the mean age was 39.2±3.6 years.

There was a sharp rise in the trend of KS from 2005 to a peak in 2008.

The leg and foot region was the most common site of occurrence.

There were two cases seen in the cervical lymph node in the pediatric age group.

Conclusions: KS was the most common borderline vascular tumor with almost all cases confirmed as HIV/AIDS patients.

The mean age of presentation was in the fourth decade of life with a sharp rise in its incidence from 2005 with a peak incidence in 2008.

This was followed by a slight decline from 2009 to 2013.

Mixed and nodular KS were the most frequently encountered types and patterns, respectively.