Two Decades of Adult T-Cell Leukemia and HTLV-I Research (Gann Monograph on Cancer Research, No. 50)

In April 2001, the Japanese Cancer Association was privileged to host a symposium in Kyoto to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the discovery of the viral pathogenesis of adult T-cell leukemia (ATL). In this monograph, the editors have selected not only papers presented at the symposium but also eminent papers of several individuals from around the world who have extensively researched human T-cell-leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I), the etiological virus of ATL, over the years. During the last two decades, HTLV-I was molecularly characterized as harboring a variety of oncogenic properties in its Tax protein. Epidemiological studies not only revealed the existence of HTLV-I-endemic areas in the world, but also disclosed the routes of transmission. Despite these great strides, the mechanisms of ATL development have not yet been fully clarified, and viable therapeutic measures are still to be established. This monograph contains recent exciting achievements in molecular virology, epidemiology, immunology and therapeutic trials as well as historical profiles of HTLV-I and HTLV-I-associated diseases.