A 55-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with bleeding tendency. A diagnosis of ATL (Adult T-cell Leukemia) was made, and we achieved complete remission with VEPA therapy. But after two months or so, the disease relapsed, and he died of intra-cranial bleeding. The surface marker of the leukemic cell changed OKT-4 positive and OKT-8 negative into OKT-4 positive and OKT-8 positive during his clinical course.
A ATL cell is considered to be a mature thymocyte, but the leukemic cell in this case was considered to be a common thymocyte.
