However, this viewpoint has evolved with accumulating evidence of antisense transcription in several retroviruses, and the discovery of HBZ plays different roles in the pathogenesis of HTLV-mediated T-cell leukemia (Gaudray et al., 2002; Barbeau and Mesnard, 2015; Matsuoka and Mesnard, 2020). This evidence concerns the gene HBZ and T-cell leukemia.