Trends in HTLV-1 prevalence and incidence of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma in Nagasaki, Japan

✍ Scribed by Yoshito Koga; Masako Iwanaga; Midori Soda; Naoko Inokuchi; Daisuke Sasaki; Hiroo Hasegawa; Katsunori Yanagihara; Kazunari Yamaguchi; Shimeru Kamihira; Yasuaki Yamada

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 94 KB
• Volume: 82
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.21738

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Most previous studies aimed at estimating the number of human T‐cell leukemia virus type‐1 (HTLV‐1) carriers in endemic areas have been based on seroprevalence rates in blood donors; however, this may result in underestimation because of the healthy donor effect. People who have health problem do not donate blood. In the present study, the number of HTLV‐1 carriers in Nagasaki City was estimated based on the seroprevalence rates in a hospital‐based population from Nagasaki University Hospital. In accordance with previous reports, seroprevalence of HTLV‐1 was higher in females, and year of birth‐specific seroprevalence showed a significant annual decline in both genders (P for trend: <0.0001). The estimated number of HTLV‐1 carriers in Nagasaki City was 36,983. The incidence of adult T‐cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) among HTLV‐1 carriers was estimated using data from the Nagasaki Prefectural Cancer Registry. The estimated annual incidence of ATLL was 61 per 100,000 HTLV‐1 carriers, and the crude lifetime risk of the development was 7.29% for males and 3.78% for females. There is a large pool of HTLV‐1 carriers aged over 70 years, and a continuing development of cases of ATLL among the elderly is therefore expected. J. Med. Virol. 82:668–674, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.