# Adult T-cell leukemia: antigen in an ATL cell line and detection of antibodies to the antigen in human sera

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-hinuma-adult-t-cell-leukaemia-antigen-pnas-1981/  
OnCo record `paper-hinuma-adult-t-cell-leukaemia-antigen-pnas-1981` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Japanese researchers found an antigen in cells from a patient with an unusual leukaemia, then found antibodies to it in every one of 44 patients with that leukaemia and in a quarter of healthy adults where the disease clusters.

## Summary

Yorio Hinuma and colleagues used indirect immunofluorescence to detect an antigen in the cytoplasm of 1 to 5 per cent of cells of MT-1, a T-cell line from a patient with adult T-cell leukaemia, a disease endemic in southwestern Japan. The antigen was absent from six other T-cell lines, seven B-cell lines and four non-T non-B lines, and did not cross-react with Epstein-Barr virus, herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus, varicella-zoster virus, herpesvirus saimiri or Marek disease virus. Culturing with 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine increased the proportion of antigen-bearing cells roughly fivefold, and electron microscopy of those cultures showed extracellular type C virus particles.

The serology is what made the case. Antibodies against the antigen were found in all 44 patients with adult T-cell leukaemia examined, in 32 of 40 patients with malignant T-cell lymphomas resembling it, in 26 per cent of healthy adults from endemic areas, and in only a few of those from non-endemic areas.

Together with Poiesz's isolation of the virus in the United States the year before, this established human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 as the cause of adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma, a disease the OnCo corpus does not yet hold as a record of its own.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-10-01
- Also known as: Hinuma 1981; ATLA antigen; Seroepidemiology of HTLV-1 in Japan
- Tags: lymphoma-evidence
- Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Year: 1981
- DOI: 10.1073/pnas.78.10.6476
- Authors: Hinuma Y, Nagata K, Hanaoka M, et al.
- Findings: An antigen was detected by indirect immunofluorescence in the cytoplasm of 1 to 5 per cent of cells of the MT-1 T-cell line from a patient with adult T-cell leukaemia.; The antigen was absent from six other T-cell lines, seven B-cell lines and four non-T non-B cell lines, and showed no cross-reactivity with six herpesviruses including Epstein-Barr virus.; Antibodies to the antigen were found in all 44 patients with adult T-cell leukaemia examined and in 32 of 40 patients with similar malignant T-cell lymphomas.; Antibodies were present in 26 per cent of healthy adults from endemic areas but in only a few from non-endemic areas.; Electron microscopy of induced MT-1 cultures showed extracellular type C virus particles.
- What it means: The seroepidemiology that tied a virus to a cancer across a population rather than in one patient. It is the reason blood donations are screened for human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 in Japan and elsewhere, and the reason breastfeeding advice is part of cancer prevention in endemic regions.
- Caveats: Antibody prevalence of 26 per cent in healthy adults from endemic areas against a lifetime leukaemia risk of a few per cent shows that infection is far from sufficient to cause disease.; The assay detected an antigen rather than isolating the virus; the isolation was Poiesz's the year before.; Sample sizes are small by modern standards, and the comparison areas were not matched for anything other than endemicity.

## Sources

- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 1981: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.78.10.6476
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7031654/
- Europe PMC: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/7031654

## Connected records

- key papers: [Detection and isolation of type C retrovirus particles from fresh and cultured lymphocytes of a patient with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-poiesz-htlv-retrovirus-cutaneous-t-cell-lymphoma-pnas-1980/), [VCAP-AMP-VECP compared with biweekly CHOP for adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma: Japan Clinical Oncology Group Study JCOG9801](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-jcog9801-vcap-amp-vecp-adult-t-cell-leukaemia-jco-2007/)
- roadmaps: [Lymphoma roadmap: from a jaw tumour in Uganda and the first human cancer virus to gene-expression subtypes, PET-adapted chemotherapy, CAR-T cells, bispecific antibodies and the genetics-directed trials now recruiting](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/lymphoma-roadmap/)
- cancers: [Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/non-hodgkin-lymphoma/), [Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (including cutaneous T-cell lymphoma)](https://onco.cc/cancers/peripheral-t-cell-lymphoma/)
- fronts: [Diagnostics & Biomarkers](https://onco.cc/fronts/diagnostics/), [Prevention & Risk](https://onco.cc/fronts/prevention/)
- trials: [JCOG9801](https://onco.cc/trials/jcog9801/)
- bottlenecks: [Most of the world has almost no cancer care](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-global-access/), [Prevention we already have is not deployed](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-prevention-adoption/)
- journals: [Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences](https://onco.cc/journals/pnas/)

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