Pathogenesis of AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma

Abstract

Kaposi's sarcoma presents the oncologist with a myriad of unanswered questions. What accounts for the genesis, distribution, and natural history of this tumor? How could a tumor with such a singular histologic appearance occur in such diverse clinical circumstances? What accounts for the unusual geographic, ethnic, and demographic features of Kaposi's sarcoma? Clearly, the answers to these questions will involve a multifactorial etiology, and may only be arrived at by methodical, piecemeal dissection of each question.