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Long-term complete remission of laryngeal Kaposi's sarcoma after palliative radiotherapy

Abstract

Background A 43-year-old Caucasian man presented with enlarged right laterocervical lymph nodes, and a 6-month history of diarrhea and 9 kg weight loss. His previous medical history was unremarkable. Physical examination and a cervical CT scan showed several indistinct necrotic right laterocervical lymph nodes of 4 cm maximal diameter, but with no lesions of the respiratory or digestive tracts.

Investigations Physical examination, cervical CT scan, laterocervical lymph node biopsy, laboratory tests, and endoscopy.

Diagnosis Clinical stage 4 AIDS with stage T0 I1 S1 epidemic AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma of the laterocervical lymph nodes and, subsequently, the larynx.

Management Highly active antiretroviral treatment (stavudine, didanosine, and nelfinavir), tracheotomy, and palliative radiotherapy.

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Figure 1: CT scan of tumor progression showing enlarged right laterocervical lymph nodes (white arrows) and laryngeal tumor (black arrows).

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Correspondence to Carmen Ares.

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Ares, C., Allal, A. Long-term complete remission of laryngeal Kaposi's sarcoma after palliative radiotherapy. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 2, 473–477 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncponc0294

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