How viruses turn immune cells into cancer

An international research team mapped how the HTLV-1 virus causes a rare leukemia in some people, providing clues on how to prevent the occurrence of this disease

A research team led by Imperial College London and Kumamoto University in Japan used single-cell analysis to reveal how the virus over-activated T cells (key immune cells in our blood), causing them Cancerous

This rare cancer is called adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL).

ATL can progress slowly or positively, but there is no standard treatment for high-grade ATL, and the recurrence rate is high after chemotherapy and antiviral drugs

The results of the research team published today in the "Journal of Clinical Investigation" showed that the virus hijacked the activation mechanism of T cells, causing them to continue to be activated at a high level and gradually become malignant

Professor Yorifumi Satou, the co-lead researcher from Kumamoto University, is a virologist who studies HTLV-1

Co-Principal Investigator Dr.

Leukemia is a cancer that originates in blood or bone marrow cells and is characterized by a large increase in the number of abnormal white blood cells

The HTLV-1 virus inserts itself into a type of T cell, and, first of all, remains in a "latent" state there, without releasing any new virus particles or causing any adverse effects

The research team studied more than 87,000 T cells from virus-free donors, healthy virus carriers, and ATL patients

They found that in patients who progressed to ATL, HTLV-1 makes infected T cells highly active and overreacting, causing them to overproduce protein, keeping them proliferating, and helping them avoid the immune system that normally clears bad cells.

The research team believes that these changes make overactive T cells more susceptible to DNA damage, such as chemicals or radiation, and accelerate their transition to a cancerous state

The authors say that further research on related processes will lay the foundation for potential new treatment options

references:

"HTLV-1 infection promotes excessive T cell activation and transformation into adult T cell leukemia/ lymphoma" 15 December 2021, Journal of Clinical Investigation.

DOI: 10.