The pathobiology of Kaposi's sarcoma: advances since the onset of the AIDS epidemic.

Since the perplexing early Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) observations at the dawn of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome epidemic, KS has been extensively studied, revealing a complex disease. The identification and complete elucidation of the genome of its causal agent, the KS-associated herpesvirus/human herpesvirus 8, have shed important insights into the pathobiology of this disease. The purpose of this review is to describe the scientific advances and understanding of KS over the past three decades.