Discovery of Adult T-cell Leukemia: Reminiscences

摘要

In the history of medicine the cycle involving the discovery of a new disease, the study of its etiology, and discussions of countermeasures must have been repeated many times. However, a cycle frequently lasts for several centuries and involves many twists and turns; hence, the details of many such past cycles are unknown. In recent years, however, the cycle of discovering, reporting and recognizing a new disease and then, most importantly, defining its etiology and considering the preventive measures has proceeded rapidly, reflecting the general trend of rapid changes in social phenomena. One example is adult T-cell leukemia (ATL). It was around the year 1973 that we came to recognize the existence of ATL, previously an unknown disease. Here, I would like to give a retrospective view concerning the background of our studies on ATL.