A 67-year-old woman with severe pain in the peripheral extremities was admitted to our hospital. Radiography of the peripheral extremities revealed multiple osteolytic lesions. Antibody to human T cell leukemia virus type-I (HTLV-I) was positive, and right radial bone biopsy showed infiltration of adult T cell leukemic (ATL) cells. Irradiation therapy was effective in the osteolytic lesions. In the present case, elevation of IL-6 was detected, suggesting that IL-6 produced by ATL cells is related to their proliferation in the bone, and local osteolysis.
(Internal Medicine 38: 820-823, 1999