同窓会学術奨励賞受賞講演

演者

Yoshihiro HATTA
Department of Hematology and Rheumatology, Nihon University School of Medicine

はじめに

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is an aggressive,fatal malignancy of mature CD4+ T lymphocytes.The retrovirus, human T-cell lymphotropic virustype I (HTLV-I), has been recognized as the etiologicagent of ATLL. The disease has been classifiedinto four main subtypes. In the relatively indolentsmoldering and chronic forms, the median survival istwo years or more. In the acute and lymphomatousforms, the median survival time is about ten months.Although the viarl transactivating protein Tax hasbeen proposed to play a critical role in leukemogeneisas shown by its transforming activity in various experimentalsystems, additional cellular events are requiredfor the development of ATLL. A statisticalanalysis revealed that five independent genetic eventswere probably required to develop ATLL after viralinfection of the target T cells. Also, the mechanisms of transformation from chronic to acute type have notbeen understood well. We focus on the inactivation ofcell cycle regulating genes in the development ofATLL.

keyword

ATLL, cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor, tumor supperssor gene