Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology 32:301-306 (2002)
© 2002 Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research
Geographic Distribution of the Incidence of Adult T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma and Other Malignancies in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
Departments of 1 Preventive Medicine and Health Promotion and 4 Obstetrics and Gynecology and 5 First Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Nagasaki, 2 Department of Epidemiology, Radiation Effects Research Foundation, Nagasaki, 3 Kamigoto Hospital, Minamimatsuura-gun and 6 Department of Health and Welfare, Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki, Japan
Background: It remains unclear whether human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-I (HTLV-I) infection is associated with an increased risk of malignancies other than adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma.
Methods: The authors investigated the geographic distribution of the incidence of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma and other malignancies in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, where HTLV-I is endemic. The world age-standardized incidence rates of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma and five cancers of other sites were calculated in 15 areas, using the data from the Nagasaki Prefectural Cancer Registry (198597).
Results: The incidence of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma was found to be positively correlated with that of biliary tract cancer in men (person-years-weighted r = 0.49, P = 0.06) and liver cancer in women (r = 0.56, P = 0.03), but not with cancer of the stomach, lung or cervix uteri.
Conclusions: The results may not support the hypothesis that HTLV-I infection is strongly associated with an increased risk of cancer of the stomach, lung or cervix uteri. The association between HTLV-I infection and cancer of the biliary tract and the possible interaction between hepatitis C virus and HTLV-I in the development of liver cancer should be evaluated by prospective cohort studies.
+ For reprints and all correspondence: Kokichi Arisawa, Department of Preventive Medicine and Health Promotion, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1124 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan