Analysis of 309 cases of esophageal atresia for associated congenital malformations

We describe a 50-year-old man with adult T-cell leukemia complicated by laryngeal tuberculosis whose tumor cells proliferate in response to IL-2 in a paracrine manner. On admission, the patient's white blood cell count was 17,900/mm3; 73% were abnormal lymphocytes with convoluted nuclei. FACS analysis showed that the tumor cells were CD4-negative, CD8-positive T cells. Southern blot analysis of tumor cells revealed integration of a defective HTLV-I genome lacking gag and pol genes. He was diagnosed with chronic ATL complicated by laryngeal tuberculosis. The primary leukemic cells expressed IL-2R alpha and IL-2R beta detected by FACS and Northern blot analysis and showed marked growth in response to exogenously added recombinant IL-2 in short-term cultures. Northern blot analysis did not show any IL-2 mRNA. We have previously demonstrated that primary leukemic cells from some ATL patients grow in response to IL-2 in an autocrine or paracrine manner. These results suggest that in CD8 ATL, IL-2 may be involved in a paracrine manner.