肺癌患者におけるHTLV-I感染と間質性肺病変に関する研究

抄録

Thirty-one patients with lung cancer in Okinawa known as HTLV-I endemic area, and 140 patients in Okayama were evaluated in regard to HTLV-I infection and interstitial pulmonary shadows. The presence of HTLV-I infection was examined by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and indirect immunofluorescent (IF) assay in sera. Interstitial pulmonary shadows on the chest roentgenograph, were classified according to the grade of fibrosis. The rate of HTLV-I infection in patients with lung cancer was higher than that in healthy controls by IF assay in both districts. The rate of anti-HTLV-I antibody was higher in lung cancer patients with severe fibrosis than in those with milder fibrosis, but the grade of fibrosis and existence of pX gene had no relation in Okinawa or in Okayama. The incidence of patients with anti-HTLV-I antibody was higher in patients with adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma than in those with small cell carcinoma. These findings suggested that HTLV-I infection was closely involved in some patients with non-small cell lung cancer having interstitial pulmonary shadows.