Presence of antibodies against adult T cell leukemia antigen in the patients with chronic respiratory diseases.

The presence of antibodies against adult T cell leukemia antigen (ATLA) was studied in 59 patients with chronic respiratory diseases. Of 13 patients with diffuse panbronchiolitis, 3, who developed adult T cell leukemia, had the anti-ATLA antibody and 8 had the related, anti-ATLA-like antibody. Of 13 cases of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia, 8 had the anti-ATLA-like antibody. Except for only one case, these antibodies were not detected in 33 patients with bronchial asthma or sarcoidosis and 20 healthy adults examined. These results suggested that the test of these antibodies would be useful for the diagnosis of diffuse panbronchiolitis and idiopathic interstitial pneumonia which frequently develop lung cancers.