Five Cases with Adult T-cell Leukemia Complicated by Other Malignancies

Abstract

Five cases of adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) associated with cancers were reported. The first case was the acute type of ATL complicated with thyroid and tracheal cancers. The second was the lymphoma type of ATL complicated with gastric and colonic cancers. The third, fourth or fifth case was the lymphoma type of ATL complicated with gastric, hepatic or gastric cancer, respectively. It is interesting that two out of five cases were associated with two kinds of other cancers. In our clinic, double cancer had been found in five of forty three patients with ATL (11.6%) during five years and nine months since the opening of October, 1981.
The incidence of ATL patients with other malignancies seemed to be higher than that of other hematological disorders. The case reports of ATL associated with cancer from the literature were reviewed and discussed. It was suggested that ATL was concerned deeply in the development of other malignancies.