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Kaposi sarcoma  

Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a mesenchymal tumour involving the blood and lymphatic endothelium. It is a locally aggressive tumour typically involving the skin, but may also involve mucosal sites and lymph nodes. Metastasis is rare. Four different clinical types are described: classic indolent form seen in elderly men of Mediteranean or East European descent; endemic type seen in middle-aged men and children in Equatorial Africa; iatrogenic type seen in immunosuppressed post transplant patients, and the most aggressive, AIDS-associated type, seen in HIV-infected individuals .
The disease is the result of a complex interplay of human herpes virus 8 infection, genetic and environmental factors .
Clinically, the disease appears as purplish, reddish-blue or brown macules, plaques or nodules.

Differential diagnosis:

• Mucosal malignant melanoma
• Haemangioendothelioma
• Haemangioma

Treatment:

Localised lesions are treated by local excision, cryotherapy or radiotherapy . More disseminated lesions are treated by immunotherapy using interferon alfa, or chemotherapy with adriamycin, taxol or vinblastin . In AIDS-associated Kaposi sarcoma, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is indicated.

Image	Caption
	Figure 1: Kaposi sarcoma of the palate.