Statistics About Kaposi Sarcoma

Some people use statistics to try to figure out their chances of getting cancer or of being cured. Statistics show what happens with large groups of people. Because no two people are alike, statistics can’t be used to know or predict what will happen to a particular person.

These are statistics from the American Cancer Society about Kaposi sarcoma (KS):

• About seven out of 1 million people in the general U.S. population get KS each year.

• In the U.S., KS occurs more frequently in men than in women and rarely in children.

• In the past, one in two people with HIV was at risk for developing KS. That number has now dropped due to improvements in treatment for HIV/AIDS.

• Organ transplant recipients can also get KS. About one out of 200 people who have transplants in the U.S. gets KS, primarily due to previous infection with the Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus.