The cumulative results and long-term follow-up of all patients with Burkitt's lymphoma treated at the Uganda cancer Institute Kampala are reported. The annual admission rate is 29. The tumor patients commonly present with jaw swelling (72%), abdominal swelling (56%) and central nervous system involvement (30%). Complete response rate is achieved in a high proportion of patients (81%). About 50% of these relapse, equal numbers relapsing before and after 3 months. The most important factor influencing remission duration and survival is disease stage. Other important factors are treatment protocols and, to a lesser extent, the type of relapse. Central nervous system relapse does not necessarily augur poor prognosis as second remissions and long-term survival can be achieved with appropriate therapy. Presently 25% of all treated patients have survived free of disease well beyond 5 years.

One hundred and thirty nine patients with histologically proven hepatocellular carcinoma (HC) were admitted to the Uganda Cancer Institute for treatment. The patients were considerably younger and seemed to have more advanced disease than HC patients in Europe and in North America. Of the 99 evaluable patients, 50 received Adriamycin intravenously; of these, 44% responded, with 10% achieving complete responses. Intraarterial Adriamycin tended to increase the response rate to 75%, but this may be merely a reflection of patient selection. Combination of Adriamycin with other drugs (dichloromethotrexate, 5-azacytidine, Rezoxane and cyclophosphamide) did not enhance its therapeutic effectiveness. The alphafetoprotein response curves observed when Adriamycin was combined with dichloromethotrexate suggested possible antagonisms between the two drugs. Hepatic artery ligation (HAL) is a good and simple palliative procedure with response rates similar to i.v. Adriamycin. However, the administration of Adriamycin after HAL tended to improve on response rates and survival. The toxicities observed were mainly myelosuppression, gastrointestinal disturbance, alopecia, and hyperpigmentation of the skin and mucous membranes.

47 patients with histologically proven Kaposi’s sarcoma were treated with multiple courses of Rezoxane (each course: 1 g/m²/day for 3 days) orally. The overall response was 57% with 20% achieving complete response. The median remission duration of the complete responders is 12 months (range 2–26) with 6 still having sustained complete remissions. Most of the responders were patients with nodular mixed type of Kaposi’s sarcoma. The toxicity was minimal and was mainly leukopenia, alopecia and gastrointestinal disturbance. Rezoxane is a useful safe drug and easy to administer to patients with Kaposi’s sarcoma.

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