AIDS-KS spindle cells are stimulated to secrete VEGF by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-beta and interleukin (IL)-1 beta, and co-injection of these two factors increases the vascularity of KS-like lesions in mice.15 VEGF acts as an autocrine growth factor in KS, which has high levels of VEGFR1, VEGFR2,16 and VEGFR317 compared with adjacent normal skin. Here, KDR is linked to Kaposi's sarcoma.