Human T-Lymphotrophic Viruses and Diseases of Long Latency

Excerpt

In 1980 the report of the discovery of the first human retrovirus, human T-lymphotrophic virus type I (HTLV-I) (1), culminated a search for such an agent that started at the beginning of the 20th century. This discovery was overshadowed by the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, while paradoxically providing the fundamental biologic insights critical for discovering the cause of AIDS (2, 3). Although the secrets of HTLV-I have been unlocked more slowly than those of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, HTLV-I has provided insights into several human diseases. For example, HTLV-I is associated with a form of malignancy,