1. Turn to Radiation Treatment as a First Line of Defense
Your doctor will probably turn to radiation therapy before any other treatment, as all known forms of Kaposi's sarcoma respond to these treatments. Radiation therapy can work wonders if your lesions are particularly unsightly, have grown so large that they're constricting blood or lymph vessels or if they're stuck in sensitive areas like your mouth or lips. The radiation treatments shrink their size, sometimes dramatically.
However, you should know at the outset that KS is not considered curable in any of its forms. The jury is out when it comes to how effective treatment really is in terms of long-term survival rates. It's not uncommon for KS patients to survive for 10 to 15 years or even longer without suffering a significant quality of life decline. What's more remarkable is that some untreated cases don't appear to affect the overall health of the patient for a very long time.
2. Special Chemotherapy Considerations for Kaposi's Sarcoma Patients
Because KS will affect you particularly seriously if you have a weakened immune system and chemotherapy drugs weaken your immune system, your doctor may recommend that you stick to radiation-based treatments. However, chemotherapy drugs can send KS into remission in some instances, so it is still used if necessary.
Kaposi's sarcoma is one of the few known forms of cancer that responds particularly well to locally administered chemo injections. Using these techniques, doctors put one of chemotherapy's harmful side effects to creative use. Locally injected chemotherapy drugs cause severe tissue damage--which can shrink or even kill lesion tissues when introduced to the affected site.
3. Emerging Biological Therapies
As an alternative, ask your doctor about biological therapies that can be used to treat KS and control symptoms. Interferons, particularly alpha interferons, have shown promise as a way to help your immune system control the disease naturally. Another biological agent, known as interleukin-2, is being tested as an immunological means of controlling the spread and severity of Kaposi's sarcoma symptoms. If you're interested in learning more, talk to your doctor about the possibility of participating in a clinical trial.
