title: [Kaposi sarcoma. An epidemiological perspective].
abstract: Prior to the 1980s, Kaposi's sarcoma was a rare tumour diagnosed three to four times more frequently among men than women. It was primarily seen among elderly men of Mediterranean or Jewish descent, in well-defined areas of Central Africa, or more scattered as individual cases with underlying immunosuppression. Geographical restrictions and suggested associations with certain HLA-types gave rise to early speculations of a genetic component involved in its etiology. With the AIDS epidemic, the epidemiology of Kaposi's sarcoma changed drastically. Although diagnosed among AIDS patients that are transfusion recipients, intravenous drug users and haemophiliacs, Kaposi's sarcoma is primarily found in homosexual men with AIDS among whom the risk has increased to 100,000 compared to the general population. Specific behaviours linked to homosexual men have been sought to explain this relationship, but accumulating evidence favours the involvement of an infectious agent in the etiology of Kaposi's sarcoma. The most promising candidate today is a possible new herpesvirus, similar to but distinct from Herpes-virus saimiri and Epstein-Barr virus.
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections; D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D001727:Bisexuality; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D008297:Male; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000821:virology
vernacular_title: Kaposis sarkom. Et epidemiologisk perspektiv.