This is a form of cancer that, until recently, was only seen in elderly men of Mediterranean descent. In those individuals, it is a slow growing, non-aggressive disease. After the AIDS epidemic, it became a very common cancer in homosexuals with AIDS. It is also much more aggressive in patients with AIDS, and is theorized that there is a sexually transmitted co-factor (possibly a type of Herpes Virus) that increases the likelihood of developing Kaposi's Sarcoma in those with AIDS.
Purple or dark nodules on the skin or mucous membranes (e.g., lips)
Shortness of breath if the lungs are involved
Coughing of blood (Hemoptysis)
Vomiting blood (hematemesis) or the passing of bloody stool (hematochezia) from the rectum if the gastrointestinal tract is involved
Yellow skin or eyes if the biliary tract/gall bladder becomes involved
