Many scientists who study Kaposi's sarcoma believe the inflammation that occurs with the disease is caused by endothelial cells that line the body's blood vessels. A viral immunologist at Upstate had another theory. Christine King, PhD, suspected a different culprit: mast cells, which release histamines and other substances during allergic reactions. She tells about a patient with Kaposi's sarcoma (also written as Kaposi sarcoma or KS) whose symptoms improved tremendously after he began taking allergy medications. Click here for a research paper she contributed to on this topic.