Kaposi Sarcoma
Skin & Superficial Tumours
The skin lesions of Kaposi sarcoma are numerous and scattered; being able to treat many nodules in a single session makes electrochemotherapy practical in this indication. Clinical series exist for both classic and HIV-associated forms.
25total publications
11clinical studies
0preclinical studies
4reviews
2006–2025publication span
Evidence Status by Regime
Reversible electroporation (RE-ECT)
25publications
11clinical
0preclinical
Early Clinical Evidence
2006–2025 · Near Clinical Adoption
Mechanisms Reported in This Area
Terms were detected by automatic matching over publication abstracts; the figure gives the number of publications containing the term.
Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation 6
Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability 4
Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement 2
Vascular Lock Effect 1
Electrode Geometry and Placement 1
Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation 1
Study Type Distribution
Bar length is scaled to the most common study type; the percentage gives the share of the whole area. Colour marks the evidence tier of the study type, the same scale as the evidence map.
| Study type | Publications | Share within this area |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical Study | 9 | 36% |
| Retrospective Clinical Study | 2 | 8% |
| Case Report | 5 | 20% |
| Systematic Review / Meta-Analysis | 2 | 8% |
| Guideline / Consensus | 1 | 4% |
| Review | 2 | 8% |
| Preprint | 1 | 4% |
| Editorial / Letter | 2 | 8% |
| Correction / Erratum | 1 | 4% |
Literature Evidence Table
25 publications listed in order of evidence strength. Click a title to open the citation, mechanism and full abstract drawer.
| Regime | Publication | Year | Study type | Model | Mechanism | Abstract |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reversible | Quaglino et al · Eur J Surg Oncol | 2025 | Clinical Study | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation, Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability | Introduction: Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a cancer of endothelial cells involving the skin and visceral organs. Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is an alternative treatment option for patients with cuta… |
| Reversible | Rullo et al · Cancers (Basel) | 2024 | Clinical Study | Human | – | Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is one of the newest therapeutic strategies employed as a medical procedure for skin neoplasms' treatment, especially for classic Kaposi's sarcoma (CKS). The aim of… |
| Reversible | Pfefferle et al · J Dtsch Dermatol Ges | 2022 | Clinical Study | Human | Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement, Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | ced ability to receive general anesthesia DOI: 10.1111/ddg.14855 For some years now, electrochemotherapy (ECT) has been an additional therapy option for the treatment of cutaneous and subcut… |
| Reversible | Borgognoni et al · Anticancer Res | 2020 | Clinical Study | Human | – | Background: We aimed to verify the clinical efficacy and safety of the electrochemotherapy in melanoma metastases and in cases of rare non-melanoma tumors that were difficult to treat for th… |
| Reversible | Colafigli et al · J Clin Med | 2019 | Clinical Study | Human | – | Kaposi sarcoma (KS) remains a relevant malignancy in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients with a non-standardized management; despite past suggestions that ritonavir-boosted … |
| Reversible | Starita et al · Infect Agent Cancer | 2017 | Clinical Study | Human | – | Background: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) has shown to be an effective treatment for cutaneous and subcutaneous Kaposi sarcoma (KS) lesions. However, no study has investigated the impact of ECT … |
| Reversible | Di Monta et al · Eur J Surg Oncol | 2014 | Clinical Study | Human | – | Background: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a novel modality for the treatment of skin nodules and cutaneous or subcutaneous tumors that allows delivery of low and non-permeant drug into cells.… |
| Reversible | Latini et al · Dermatol Ther | 2012 | Clinical Study | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | The present prospective study was aimed at evaluating the long-term efficacy of local electrochemotherapy (ECT) with the intravenous administration of bleomycin, on disease progression and v… |
| Reversible | Curatolo et al · Ann Surg Oncol | 2011 | Clinical Study | Human | Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability | Background: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is an emerging treatment for cutaneous lesions of different tumor types. The combination of chemotherapy and electroporation enhances drug uptake into t… |
| Reversible | Lalanda et al · Int J Dermatol | 2022 | Retrospective Clinical Study | Human | – | Background and objectives: Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a locally aggressive mesenchymal tumor that involves the lymphovascular system, with a tendency to become multifocal. Electrochemotherapy … |
| Reversible | Savoia et al · COSCI | 2022 | Retrospective Clinical Study | Human | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | Background: Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a tumor of endothelial derivation, which primarily affects the skin and is mainly related to the type 8 Human Herpesvirus (HHV8). Its onset is favored by… |
| Reversible | Niccolò et al · Anticancer Drugs | 2023 | Case Report | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | An elderly female patient with a long-standing history of Kaposi's sarcoma of the lower limbs was referred to the Surgical Department after the subsequential failure of multiple lines of sys… |
| Reversible | Pfefferle et al · J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol | 2022 | Case Report | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation, Electrode Geometry and Placement | , Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is becoming increasingly important in the treatment of cutaneous and subcutaneous tumours of various entities in the palliative setting. Using needle electrodes o… |
| Reversible | Gualdi et al · J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol | 2010 | Case Report | Human | – | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 239 Figure 1 Annular and erythematous papules localized on the tibial region (a) and complete resolution of the granuloma annulare lesions after only 2 weeks of topiram… |
| Reversible | Curatolo et al · Dermatol Surg | 2008 | Case Report | Human | – | [No abstract available] |
| Reversible | Garbay et al · European Journal of Cancer Supplements | 2006 | Case Report | Human | – | Most of the tumours treated by electrochemotherapy are cutaneous malignant melanoma nodules, breast cancer recurrences, or basal cell carcinomas.1–4 However, the bases of the electrochemothe… |
| Reversible | Ognard et al · Eur Radiol | 2025 | Systematic Review / Meta-Analysis | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation, Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability | Background: Vascular anomalies (VAs) require specialized multidisciplinary management. Bleomycin electrosclerotherapy (B)EST combines electroporation with intralesional bleomycin to enhance … |
| Reversible | Ferioli et al · Mol Clin Oncol | 2021 | Systematic Review / Meta-Analysis | Literature Analysis | – | Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a rare angioproliferative disorder, which is usually associated with human herpesvirus-8 infection. Electrochemotherapy (ECT) may be an option in the treatment of KS s… |
| Reversible | Lebbe et al · Eur J Cancer | 2019 | Guideline / Consensus | Human | – | Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a multifocal neoplasm of lymphatic endothelium-derived cells infected with human herpesvirus 8. Four clinical subtypes are distinguished: the classic, the endemic, t… |
| Reversible | Brambilla et al · J Cutan Med Surg | 2023 | Review | Human | – | Background: occasional case reports have described the appearance of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) on previously unaffected skin after incidental or accidental injury, but the association is probabl… |
| Reversible | Reinhold · Anticancer Drugs | 2011 | Review | Animal (In Vivo) | Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability | Electrochemotherapy is an effective local tumor ablation modality in the treatment of solid cancers. Its use combines the administration of nonpermeable or poorly permeable highly intrinsic … |
| Reversible | Rullo et al · – | 2024 | Preprint | – | – | Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is one of the newest therapeutic strategies employed as medical procedure for skin neoplasms’ treatment, especially for Classic Kaposi’s Sarcoma (CKS). The aim of t… |
| Reversible | Gu et al · J Med Virol | 2022 | Editorial / Letter | Human | – | Multiple treatment modalities for Kaposi sarcoma (KS) have been reported, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgical excision, electrochemotherapy, and cryotherapy. Common topical t… |
| Reversible | Curatolo et al · J Cutan Med Surg | 2020 | Editorial / Letter | Human | – | e Options for Kaposi Sarcoma: A Call for Standardization to Allow for Comparisons and Informed Decisions We read with interest the paper by Odyakmaz Demirsoy et al on local treatment of Kapo… |
| Reversible | Quaglino et al · Eur J Surg Oncol | 2025 | Correction / Erratum | – | – | European Journal of Surgical Oncology 51 (2025) 110187 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect European Journal of Surgical Oncology journal homepage: www.ejso.com Corrigendum to “Electroc… |
Limitations
The counts on this page are bounded by the scope of the source PDF archive and are not a systematic review of the area's literature. Study type and mechanism labels are derived automatically; for critical decisions consult the full texts of the publications listed. The evidence level reflects the number of publications, not their methodological quality.