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Detection of adult T‐Cell leukemia‐associated antigen in T‐Cell malignancies in the Nagasaki district of Japan
Author(s) -
Amagasaki Tatsuhiko,
Momita Saburo,
Suzuyama Junji,
Yamada Yasuaki,
Ikeda Shuichi,
Kinoshita Kenichiro,
Ichimaru Michito
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19841115)54:10<2074::aid-cncr2820541006>3.0.co;2-g
Subject(s) - mycosis fungoides , medicine , t cell leukemia , lymphoma , antigen , leukemia , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , antibody , chronic lymphocytic leukemia , immunofluorescence , t cell , retrovirus , virus , immunology , virology , pathology , immune system , biology , biochemistry , in vitro
Adult T‐cell leukemia‐associated antigen (ATLA), a human retrovirus‐associated antigen, and anti‐ATLA antibodies were examined in 52 cases of T‐cell malignancies in the Nagasaki district in southwestern Japan, which is known to be an ATL endemic area. These T‐cell malignancies included 27 cases of ATL, 2 cases of T‐cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (T‐CLL), 18 cases of T‐cell lymphoma, and 5 cases of mycosis fungoides. Using the immunofluorescence method, ATLA‐positive cells were detected in short‐term mass culture of mononuclear cells from 22 of the 27 ATL patients, both T‐CLL patients, 17 of 18 T‐cell lymphoma patients, and 3 of the 5 mycosis fungoides patients. In an ATL patient in whom a high percentage of ATLA‐positive cells were detected, many type C virus particles were observed in the extracellular space of the cultured mononuclear cells with an electron microscope. Sera from all 27 of the ATL patients, the 2 T‐CLL patients, 15 of the 18 T‐cell lymphoma patients, and 4 of the 5 mycosis fungoides patients were anti‐ATLA antibody positive. These results indicate the possible participation of the retrovirus, ATL virus (ATLV), in these T‐cell malignancies in ATL‐endemic areas.