Abstract Introduction Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a mesenchymal tumor originating from lymphatic endothelial cells. Immunsu- pressive patients have higher risk for KS. HHV-8 has a role in immunpathogenesis of KS. Aim Evaluation of demographical properties with tumor characteristics and treatment modalities of KS. Material and method Histopathologically documented KS patients were evaluated retrospectively. Anti-HIV sero- prevalence was also evaluated with patient and tumor char- acteristics besides treatment regimens. Results Fifty-one patients were included between Septem- ber 1998 and February 2009. Male/female ratio was 3.25 (39/12). Median age was 68 (31-94). Lower extremity was the most common site whereas excisional biopsy was the most common diagnostic procedure. Smoking rate was 42.8%. Twenty percent had family history for cancer. Anti- HIV seropositivity rate was 1.9%. Thirty eight percent had local monotherapy, and radiotherapy was most common (26%). Multidisciplinary approach rate was 44%. Most of them had surgery and radiotherapy combination. Two-third of the patients had radiotherapy alone or with other mo- dalities. Rates were as 12% for chemotherapy and 6% for interferon. Vincristine-bleomycin-doxorubicin combination was the most preferred regimen (60%). Conclusion Male patients in the sixth decade seem to have higher risk for KS. Smoking rate was almost as high. Lo- cal therapy might be sufficient in most of the patients. However, we may also consider systemic chemotherapy for selected patients, including vincristine, bleomycin and doxorubicin. Keywords Kaposi sarcoma · Treatment of Kaposi sarcoma · Chemotherapy in Kaposi sarcoma · Interferon in Kaposi sarcoma Introduction Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a rare angiogenic mesenchymal tumour of lymphatic endothelial cells [1, 2]. Lymphedema is common in KS because of defective lymphatic drain- age [3]. Classic KS was first defined as sarcoma idio- pathicum multiplex hemorrhagicum by Moriz Kaposi in 1872 [2]. Viral oncogenesis, especially human herpes virus-8 [(HHV-8); Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpes virus M. Dogan (Y) · G. Ozal · G. Utkan · A. Demirkazik · F. Icli Ankara University School of Medicine Department of Medical Oncology Cebeci Hospital TR-06590, Dikimevi, Ankara, Turkey e-mail: mutludogan1@yahoo.com L. Dogan Ankara Oncology Education and Research Hospital Department of General Surgery Ankara, Turkey F. Ozdemir · F. Aydın Karadeniz Technical University School of Medicine Department of Medical Oncology Trabzon, Turkey N. Yildirim Ozdemir · N. Zengin Ankara Numune Education and Research Hospital Department of Medical Oncology Ankara, Turkey H. Senol Coskun Akdeniz University School of Medicine Department of Medical Oncology Antalya, Turkey U. Yalcintas Arslan Ankara Oncology Education and Research Hospital Department of Medical Oncology Ankara, Turkey Clin Transl Oncol (2010) 12:629-633 DOI 10.1007/s12094-010-0568-7 RESEARCH ARTICLES Fifty-one Kaposi sarcoma patients Mutlu Dogan · Lutfi Dogan · Feyyaz Ozdemir · Nuriye Yildirim Ozdemir · Hasan Senol Coskun · Ulku Yalcintas Arslan · Guze Ozal · Gungor Utkan · Ahmet Demirkazik · Fazil Aydin · Nurullah Zengin · Fikri Icli Received: 15 September 2009 / Accepted: 6 March 2010