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Do You Remember Kaposi’s Sarcoma?

The other day, an old graduate school friend and I got together to rehash our old lives and new experiences, and one of the first things he said when he saw me was, “Those red marks on your face remind me of Kaposi’s Sarcoma.”  I was instantly stopped — “Kaposi’s Sarcoma” was a phrase I hadn’t heard in over a decade — and when I quickly explained the marks on my face were actually pinches of frostbite from the dermatologist to remove some overactive sebaceous gland residue, he smiled with relief. As an older Gay man, my friend knew lesions that look like that have traditionally indicated a dire diagnosis.

My friend was right to be concerned.  Lesions like Kaposi’s Sarcoma were, not…

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Featured

 Kaposi Sarcoma Still a Concern, Especially for African-American Men

The decline after the advent of antiretroviral therapy did not extend to Black men in the South.

Articles of Interest

'The Disease of the Century': Reporting on the Origin of AIDS

On July 3, 1981, The New York Times published a story by physician and medical correspondent Dr. Lawrence Altman titled ”Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals.” The cancer was Kaposi’s sarcoma, a tumor caused by a viral infection and characterized by dark spots on the skin. While the disease usually struck older patients and progressed slowly, these 41 cases had appeared in—and were quickly killing—men as young as 26. Doctors were puzzled... Kaposi’s is now known to be a hallmark of AIDS; at the time, though, AIDS was still an unknown. Altman’s article was the first story the Times would publish on the disease that had yet to be understood, identified, or even named.

Classic Kaposi Sarcoma: to treat or not to treat?

KS is a locally aggressive endothelial tumour belonging to the family of vascular sarcoma. According to aetiology and epidemiology, four variants have been described: classic KS, usually affecting Mediterranean elderly men; endemic African KS, common in middle-aged adults and children in Equatorial Africa; iatrogenic KS, usually occurring in solid organ transplant recipients but also in patients receiving immunosuppressive treatment (i.e. corticosteroid) for a long time; acquired immunodeficiency syndrome associated KS, the most aggressive variant, affecting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients. KS is invariably associated with human herpes virus type 8 (HHV-8), which seems to play a key role in KS pathogenesis.

Kaposi sarcoma and AIDS – unravelling a medical mystery

So it is curious but true that a cancer was a harbinger of the AIDS epidemic – the outbreak of Kaposi’s sarcoma was how we first learned that AIDS existed...Understanding what caused KS in AIDS patients was one of the hot topics of the late 1980s and early 1990s...

Kaposi’s Sarcoma and the Virus/Cancer Connection (Part 1)

Over the years since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, we have gotten pretty good at treating HIV infection, and with HAART (highly active anti-retroviral therapy), HIV infection has morphed from a rapidly fatal infection to a chronic disease. A by-product of the advent of HAART was the apparent disappearance of Kaposi’s Sarcoma.

Kaposi’s Sarcoma and the Virus/Cancer Connection (Part 2)

Is Kaposi Sarcoma the only cancer caused by a virus? No. In fact, the observation that viruses can cause cancer dates back to the beginning of the 20th century.

Who’s most at risk of getting Kaposi sarcoma? New research gives insights

People who had low recent CD4 counts, high recent viral loads, or who had higher average viral loads over time had the highest risk of developing Kaposi sarcoma...

Resources

HIVInSite

Kaposi sarcoma (KS) was one of the first conditions recognized as an opportunistic sequela of HIV infection, and remains the most common AIDS-associated neoplasm. AIDS-associated KS occurs with increased frequency in all HIV transmission groups compared with the general population, but at a particularly high rate among men who have sex with men (MSM).

Cancer.Net

Kaposi sarcoma is a type of soft-tissue sarcoma. Soft-tissue sarcomas are a group of cancers that begin in the tissues that support and connect the body. Kaposi sarcoma generally develops in tissue located below the skin's surface or in the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, or anus

Life in the Fastlane

Kaposi Sarcoma: An idiopathic pigmented sarcoma of the skin. Red nodules of varying size develop in the skin initially appearing on the sole of the foot then affecting the hands, progressing to affect the rest of the body. Kaposi’s original description is now one branch of a more widely recognised disease that has developed over the last century.

Macmillan Cancer Support

The main cause of KS is a virus called human herpes virus 8 (HHV8), which is also known as Kaposi’s sarcoma herpes virus (KSHV). Most people who have this virus never get KS. But people with a weakened immune system who have the virus are more likely to develop KS.

MedicineNet

A relatively rare type of skin malignancy that tends to afflict elderly people or, those with an abnormal immune system as in AIDS. Kaposi sarcoma is a highly vascular ("angioblastic") tumor of the skin characterized by soft purplish plaques and papules that form nodules which typically start on the feet and ankles and then slowly spread across the skin of the legs, hands and arms. These tumors can also develop internally and cause severe internal bleeding. The treatment depends on the severity of the tumor. Low dosages of radiation therapy can be effective in treating mild cases of Kaposi sarcoma. However, in more severe cases, anti-cancer drugs may be used to slow the spread of the tumor.

MedlinePlus

Before the HIV/AIDS epidemic, KS usually developed slowly. In HIV/AIDS patients, though, the disease moves quickly. Treatment depends on where the lesions are and how bad they are. Treatment for HIV itself can shrink the lesions. However, treating KS does not improve survival from HIV/AIDS itself.

National Cancer Institute

Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) is found in the lesions of all patients with Kaposi sarcoma. This virus is also called Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV). Most people infected with HHV-8 do not get Kaposi sarcoma. Those infected with HHV-8 who are most likely to develop Kaposi sarcoma have immune systems weakened by disease or by drugs given after an organ transplant.

NHS

Kaposi's sarcoma is a rare type of cancer caused by a virus. It can affect the skin and internal organs. It's mainly seen in people with a poorly controlled or severe HIV infection. It can also affect some people who have a weakened immune system for another reason, as well as people who have a genetic vulnerability to the virus.

Patient

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a connective tissue cancer caused by human herpes virus 8 - now called Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). The malignant lesion is characterised by neoplastic cells and abnormally growing blood vessels. KS is named after the Hungarian dermatologist, Moritz Kaposi who discovered it in 1872. KS is different to other neoplasms by virtue of the fact that lesions may begin in more than one place at the same time