Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma outside Japan and the Caribbean Basin.
Ninety-six patients with the diagnosis of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) were identified in countries outside Japan and the Caribbean Basin. Seventy-four of these patients were initially diagnosed in the United States; 25 of 52 patients whose places of birth were known had been born in the United States. The detection of 14 patients born in the southeastern United States, all black, indicates a group deserving particular attention for studies of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I), a suspected etiologic agent in most cases of ATLL. Although geographic clustering of ATLL in areas endemic for HTLV-I, particularly southwest Japan and the Caribbean Basin, is a dramatic feature of this disease, a review of the literature indicates that HTLV-I-associated ATLL probably occurs sporadically in a much wider distribution, the disease being diagnosed in native-born African, Chinese, European, and Latin American patients. A registry for ATLL cases is suggested, to assist in the identification of risk factors for this disease and, at the same time, improve case definitions and early diagnosis.
Levine
P H
PH
Environmental Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
Jaffe
E S
ES
Manns
A
A
Murphy
E L
EL
Clark
J
J
Blattner
W A
WA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D015459:Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies