Epidemiological profile of Kaposi sarcoma in Gharbia Governorate, Egypt

Background Arabs experience an incidence of classic Kaposi sarcoma (KS) similar to that in other populations living around the Mediterranean region. In Egypt, the most common clinical variant of KS is the classic KS. Objective The study aimed to investigate some epidemiological features of KS in Gharbia Governorate from 1999 to 2005. Patients and methods This is a retrospective study in which data on patients clinically and histopathologically diagnosed with KS between 1999 and 2005 from the Gharbia Population-based Cancer Registry and the Outpatient Dermatology Clinic, Department of Dermatology, Tanta University, were collected, reviewed, computerized, and submitted for statistical analysis. Results The incidence rate of KS in Gharbia was 1.6 percentage patients per million. It mainly affects elderly men with a mean age of 55.6 years. It is mainly of nodular morphology, affecting the skin of the lower limbs, with no mucosal or visceral involvement, and represents about 1.9% of the total skin cancer count and 0.06% of the total cancer count in Gharbia. Conclusion KS is a rare disease in Gharbia and mainly affects elderly men. It is mainly of the classic type, which was originally described by Moritz Kaposi.