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Kaposi Sarcoma
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Kaposi sarcoma or "Kaposi's sarcoma" is a type of cancer that results in cancerous tissue growing just beneath the skin, within the mouth, in the nose and in the throat. Other organs can be involved with Kaposi sarcoma but the skin is the most common. The cancer looks red or purplish and is made from red blood cells and cancer cells together. There are often no symptoms of Kaposi sarcoma with the exception of pain. If they spread to the digestive tract, they can bleed profusely. Lung involvement also makes it difficult to breathe.
Risk factors for Kaposi sarcoma used to be mainly elderly Jewish or Italian men and elderly woman. It has since become greatly increased in AIDS patients, who can commonly get Kaposi sarcoma. Even with AIDS patients, Kaposi sarcoma can be treated but does not affect overall survival from AIDS or HIV. In non-AIDS patients, Kaposi sarcoma grows extremely slowly and is easily managed. It grows much faster in AIDS patients and can spread to other body areas besides the skin more easily. People who have had kidney transplants or other types of transplants are more likely also to get Kaposi sarcoma.
The cause of Kaposi sarcoma in AIDS patients is the interrelationship between the HIV virus and the human herpes virus type 8. Both of these are spread through sexual activity. There is a type of Kaposi sarcoma found in African countries that affects adult males. Even African children are at risk for this type of cancer.
The symptoms of Kaposi sarcoma include the presence of purple or bluish-red lesions on the skin. There are a lot of blood vessels in Kaposi sarcoma which account for the purplish color. The lesions often occur first on the feet, thighs, ankles, arms, hands or face. Other body areas can become involved initially as well, including internal body areas.
There can be profuse bleeding from lesions in the gastrointestinal tract and bloody sputum brought up from lesions in the lung. People with lung lesions are often short of breath due to lack of oxygenation and blockage of the bronchial tree.
There are several tests that can look at the development of Kaposi sarcoma besides visual inspection of the lesions within the skin. For internal lesions, a bronchoscopy and biopsy can show Kaposi sarcoma. CT scans can show Kaposi sarcoma in internal organs, including the lungs, digestive tract and liver. An endoscopic evaluation can look at the lesions in the digestive tract and a skin lesion biopsy can identify the true diagnosis of Kaposi sarcoma within the skin or mucus membrane lesions.
The treatment of Kaposi sarcoma depends on how immunosuppressed the individual is and how many lesions of Kaposi sarcoma there are. It also depends on where the lesions are and what symptoms a patient has. Antiviral therapy directed at the AIDS virus (HIV infection) can lessen the symptoms of Kaposi sarcoma. Chemotherapy is done to kill off the cancer cells and cryotherapy is used in skin lesions. The cold is applied to the lesions and they die off. Localized treatment can be done via radiation therapy directed at large lesions in a single area.
Statistics regarding Kaposi sarcoma include the fact that it affects less than one percent of the population. One in four men with AIDS, on the other hand, develops Kaposi sarcoma. This statistic has decreased to one in seven as of the mid 1990s. The disease occurs in about one in 200 transplant patients.
Complications of Kaposi sarcoma include cough or shortness of breath, pneumonia, leg swelling if the disease has spread to the lymph nodes of the groin. If you have AIDS and Kaposi sarcoma, you can die from the disease.