title: Discovery of adult T-cell leukemia.
abstract: Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) was first reported as a distinct clinical entity in 1977 in Japan. The predominant physical findings are skin lesions, lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly. The ATL cells are of mature T-helper phenotype and have a characteristic appearance with indented nuclei. There is striking frequent hypercalcemia with increased numbers of osteoclasts. Central to the identification of the disease is a striking geographic clustering in southwestern Japan and the isolation of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1) from the cell lines of patients. Worldwide epidemiological studies have been made through international collaborations. Several diseases were found to be related to HTLV-1 infection. Moreover, it was noted that an immunodeficiency state may be induced by HTLV-1 infection. In Japan, HTLV-1 carriers have been estimated to be 1.2 million, and more than 700 cases of ATL have been diagnosed each year.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine II, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, 1-1-1 Honjo, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan. tkiyo@kitano-hp.or.jp
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takatsuki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D049673:History, 20th Century; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015459:Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / Q000266:history* / Q000821:virology
references.citation: Blood. 1977 Sep;50(3):481-92
references.pmid: 301762
references.citation: Retrovirology. 2005;2:17
references.pmid: 15743526