Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) has been recently linked with human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8)
infection. Other risk factors include the use of
cyclosporine and polyclonal anti-lymphocyte sera. Reduction of the immunosuppression, in particular
cyclosporine, leads to regression or disappearance of the
tumor in a significant number of patients. There are few publications about the response of the
tumor to the newer
immunosuppressive agent mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). We describe here a 52-year-old woman, who developed KS 22 months after living related
transplantation. The
sarcoma lesions disappeared after replacing
cyclosporine and
azathioprine by MMF, while the allograft function remained stable. This case suggests the importance of discontinuation of
cyclosporine in the treatment of post-transplant KS. MMF, while maintaining allograft function in the absence of
cyclosporine, apparently did not interfere with the regression of the
tumor.