ADULT T-CELL LEUKEMIA-LYMPHOMA - A WORKING POINT-SCORE CLASSIFICATIONFOR EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) is a malignancy that occurs most frequently in south-western japan and the Caribbean basin. The primary etiologic agent for this disease, human T-lymphotropic virus type I ( HTLV-I), is endemic in these areas. Only a small percentage of individ uals infected with HTLV-I develop ATL. The factors that determine the development of malignant disease as an outcome of HTLV-I infection in an individual are unknown. ATL is histopathologically heterogeneous an d firm diagnosis is made on the contribution of clinical, laboratory a nd histopathologic features. The wide variety of laboratory assays ava ilable to geographically diverse populations has led to a need to stan dardize the criteria for determining the diagnosis of this disease for epidemiologic studies. This report summarizes current information reg arding ATL and proposes a classification facilitating comparison of ca se series in geographically and ethnically different populations. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.