Classic Kaposi's sarcoma in the Inuit of northern Quebec.
BACKGROUND
Classic Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is predominantly a disease of eastern Mediterranean and Ashkenazi Jewish elderly men. Nevertheless, the disease has been reported to occur in people from various other ethnic and regional backgrounds.


OBJECTIVE
We report, for the first time, the occurrence of classic KS in five Inuit people living in northern Quebec, Canada.


RESULTS
We describe the case of a 69-year-old Inuit man with classic KS, and report four other cases of KS in the Inuit population, identified by a review of our hospital's dermatopathology records.


CONCLUSIONS
The discovery of classic KS in the Inuit population of northern Quebec brings with it new questions as to the origins of the KS-associated herpes virus in this population. It is our belief that the answers to these questions are in the genotype of the virus that is present in this community.
Rosen
Nathan
N
Division of Dermatology, McGill University Health Centre, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. nathanrosen@videotron.ca
Watters
A Kevin
AK
Brassard
Alain
A
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005534:Foot Diseases / Q000208:ethnology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D004930:Inuit; D035002:Lower Extremity; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011792:Quebec; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology