HTLV‐I seroprevalence in patients with malignancy

Since many malignancies often occur in patients with smoldering type adult T‐cell leukemia (ATL) (5 of 18 cases in this report), the relationship between HTLV‐I (human T‐cell leukemia virus type I) infection, which is closely associated with ATL, with other malignancies in an HTLV‐I endemic area was examined. Among the 394 patients with malignancies and who had not had blood cell transfusions, 61 (15.5%) tested positive for HTLV‐I antibody. The prevalence was significantly higher in males older than age 40 years and females of all ages compared to age‐and sex‐matched healthy individuals. The overall seroprevalence (26.1%) in 291 patients with malignancies and who had had blood cell transfusions was higher than that of those who had not had blood transfusions. There was no significant correlation between the site of malignancy and antibody prevalence. These results suggest the possibility that development of malignancy may contribute to expression of latent HTLV‐I infection and that HTLV‐I infection may contribute to the risk of other malignancies.