[A case of acute adult T-cell leukemia with long-term remission by cisplatin therapy].

A 37-year-old man was admitted because of general malaise, slight fever, pain in the knee joint and lower extremities, polydypsia, polyuria and skin lesion in September, 1985. The white blood cell count was 16,920/cmm with 41% of abnormal lymphoid cells with convoluted nuclei, which were compatible with adult T-cell leukemia (ATL). The serum calcium level was 15.1 mg/dl, serum LDH 307 IU/l, and the titer of anti-ATLA antibody in serum x 160. The cell surface phenotype of abnormal lymphocyte was OKT-3+, OKT-4+ and OKT-8-. Therefore the diagnosis of acute ATL was made. He was treated with cisplatin because VEPA therapy was not effective. About five months after the start of chemotherapy, he entered remission with almost complete disappearance of abnormal lymphocyte. The remission continued over twenty-nine months with maintenance therapy by cisplatin alone. The clinical course of this patient suggests that cisplatin could be applied to a case of ATL which is refractory to the conventional treatment.