Clinical significance of a blood eosinophilia in adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma: a blood eosinophilia is a significant unfavorable prognostic factor.

We investigated the clinical significance of a blood eosinophilia in a cohort of 158 consecutive patients with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), and multivariate analysis revealed that a blood eosinophilia was an independent and a significant unfavorable prognostic factor. Interestingly, a blood eosinophilia was independent of serum LDH level, which might reflect the tumor burden. The present study shows that measurement of the blood eosinophil count is useful for predicting the prognosis and for determining a suitable treatment strategy for ATLL patients.