Clinical and biological significance of serum tumor markers in adult T-cell leukemia.

As the clinical manifestations of adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) can be quite diverse, useful indicators for the therapy and prognosis are required for the disease. In this review, the clinical and biological significance of serum tumor markers at diagnosis in ATL patients is described. Serum lactic dehydrogenase (S-LDH), serum thymidine kinase (S-TK) and serum parathyroid hormone-related protein (S-PTHrP) at diagnosis of ATL showed a correlation with among leukocyte count, absolute number of abnormal lymphocytes with polymorphic nuclei, platelet count, serum calcium and the length of survival after the initial diagnosis. Serum beta 2-microglobulin (S-beta 2M) correlated with age, platelet count and survival. A statistical correlation existed between these four serum tumor markers. Other serum tumor markers such as immunosuppressive acidic protein (S-IAP), ferritin (S-Ft) and tissue polypeptide antigen (S-TPA) showed no correlation with clinical and histological data in ATL patients.