Diagnosis

To determine if a suspicious-looking skin lesion is Kaposi's sarcoma, your doctor will need to perform a biopsy, which involves removing a small piece of tissue for examination in a laboratory.

Tests to diagnose internal Kaposi's sarcoma include:

• Fecal occult blood test. This test detects hidden blood in stool, which can be a sign of Kaposi's sarcoma in the digestive tract.
• Chest X-ray. A chest X-ray may reveal abnormalities suggesting Kaposi's sarcoma in the lung.
• Bronchoscopy. In this test, a thin tube (bronchoscope) is passed through your nose or mouth into your lungs to view their lining and take samples of abnormal areas.
• Upper endoscopy. This test uses a thin tube (endoscope) passed through your mouth to examine the esophagus, stomach and first part of your small intestine. If your doctor suspects Kaposi's sarcoma inside any of these organs, a biopsy of the affected tissue is taken to confirm the disease.
• Colonoscopy. In this test, a thin tube (colonoscope) is passed through your rectum and advanced into your colon to examine the walls of these organs. Abnormalities suggesting Kaposi's sarcoma in the rectum or colon can also be biopsied during colonoscopy.

Bronchoscopy is unnecessary for diagnosis of Kaposi's sarcoma unless you have unexplained breathing problems or an abnormal chest X-ray. Similarly, unless a fecal occult blood test finds blood in your stool, you may be able to avoid upper endoscopy or colonoscopy.