Concurrence of lymphoma type adult T-cell leukemia in three sisters.

Three sisters, ranging in age from 56 to 59 years, who developed lymphoma type adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) during a 19-month period are described. The patients were born in the Amakusa area of Kumamoto Prefecture, an area where the incidence of malignant lymphoma is high. The histologic diagnosis, made on the basis of the Lymphoma Study Group in Japan (LSG) classification of lymph nodes, was diffuse, medium-sized cell type in the elder sister, and mixed cell type in the middle and younger sisters. The patients and their elder brother had serum antibodies against ATL-associated antigens (ATLA).