Home » Types of skin cancer » Kaposi’s Sarcoma The Kaposi's sarcoma or KS is a tumor which is caused by the Human herpesvirus 8 or HHV8 and also known as the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus or KSHV. It disease was actually described and identified by Moritz Kaposi who an Austro-Hungarian dermatologist. He made this discovery while he was practicing at the University of Vienna in 1872. It became more widely recognized when it was described as one of the AIDS defining illnesses in the 1980s. The original form of the Kaposi's sarcoma is a relatively slothful disease which generally affects the elderly persons from the Mediterranean region or among the Eastern European Jewish descent. Endemic KS or Kaposi's sarcoma was later cited among the young African people who mainly belong to the sub-Saharan Africa. This form of the Kaposi's sarcoma is a more aggressive disease which penetrates the skin extensively and widely, especially on the lower part of the limbs. This fact has to be taken care of that it is unrelated to HIV infection. The KS which is transplant related had been described, but only at a quite rare basis rarely until the coming of calcineurin inhibitors, such as ciclosporin, which are the inhibitors of functioning T-cell for the purpose of transplanting patients in the 1980s, when its symptoms and incidence grew quite rapidly. Epidemic Kaposi's sarcoma was described by the doctors and researchers during the 1980s as one of the most aggressive diseases among the AIDS patients and the HIV also causes a blemish in the immunity of the T-cell. This Kaposi's sarcoma is more than 300 times more common among the AIDS patients in comparison to the patients who are the renal transplant recipients. This fact has to be noted that HHV-8 virus is responsible for all kind of varieties of Kaposi's sarcoma. While talking about the treatment of Kaposi's sarcoma it has to be mentioned that this disease is not curable, but it can sometimes be effectively extenuated for several years and this is the sole aim or desire of the treatment of this disease. In Kaposi's sarcoma or KS it is associated with immunosuppression or immunodeficiency. The only way of treating the cause of the immune system dysfunction which results in the Kaposi's sarcoma can slow down or to stop the rapid progression of KS. Among 40% or more patients who are suffering from the AIDS related Kaposi's sarcoma, the Kaposi lesions will contract upon primarily starting the highly active antiretroviral therapy ot HAART. This is a quite interesting factor that among a certain percentage of the patients, the Kaposi's sarcoma may for a repeated times grow after a number of years on HAART. The probability increases especially if the features of HIV is not completely crushed. Patients who are having a few local wounds can often be treated with local measures such as cryosurgery or radiation therapy. Surgery is basically not recommended as Kaposi's sarcoma which can come out in wound edges. There are more widespread disease or several other disease which are affecting internal organs. These are generally treated with systemic therapy with liposomal anthracyclines, such as Doxil and paclitaxel interferon alpha.