title: Adult T-cell leukemia in Japan.
abstract: Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) was first reported in Japan, where it has a high incidence in the southwestern region. The retrovirus, human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I), is found to be the causative agent of ATL. In ATL-endemic areas, the rate of HTLV-I carriers is high. A definite diagnosis of ATL is based on the presence of HTLV-I proviral DNA in the tumor cell DNA. ATL cells originate from the CD4 subset of peripheral T cells. ATL shows diverse clinical features but can be divided into four subtypes: the acute, chronic, smoldering, and lymphoma types. Chemotherapy is not effective; the acute and lymphoma types have a poor prognosis. Familial occurrence of ATL is common. HTLV-I infection is caused by transmission of live infected lymphocytes from mother to child, or from man to woman, or by blood transfusion.
authors.affiliation: Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takatsuki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001782:Blood Donors; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology; D002353:Carrier State; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D015458:Leukemia, T-Cell / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010375:Pedigree
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral