HTLV-I Associated Leukemia/Lymphoma: Epidemiology, Biology, and Treatment

Adult T-cell leukemia,lymphoma (ATL) was first described in 1977 by Uchiyama et al., who detailed the clinical and hematologic features in 16 patients.’ They found that these patients had leukemic cells that were morphologically heterogeneous with deeply indented or lobulated nuclei. They frequently had involvement of the skin, lymph nodes, liver, and spleen. The most striking feature of this group was that 13 of them were born in the same region of Southern Japan, even though they eventually migrated from this region.Poiesz et al. isolated the retrovirus HTLV-I from a patient initially thought to have cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, but now believed to have had ATL.2It is now accepted that HTLV-I is the causative agent of adult T-cell leukemia,lymphoma (ATL). HTLV-I causes several diseases, including tropical spastic paraparesis,HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (TSP,HAM), uveitis, and infective dermatitis.