To explore whether there is genetic variation in HTLV-I tax that can escape CTL recognition during the development of ATL, the HTLV-I tax gene was sequenced in 55 patients with ATL, 61 patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), and 62 healthy carriers, and it was correlated with the presence of HLA-A*02.
C0030481
Tropical Spastic Paraparesis