Anti-cancer immunotherapy also fights HIV infection

Canadian researchers have shown that immunotherapy treatments used in cancer patients could reduce the HIV viral concentration in patients on triple therapy (a single pill containing efavirenz, tenofovir, and FTC that is taken daily). 
The experiments, performed in-vitro, have identified the mechanisms by which the cancer drugs "awake" the virus hiding in CD4+ T lymphocytes. HIV requires a host cell to remain to survive, and thus remains dormant by building a reservoir inside these immune cells that can be controlled by antiretrovirals but not completely eliminated. In-vitro studies have shown that CD4+ T lymphocytes have characteristic PD-1, LAG-3 and TIGIT proteins that are expressed at the cell surface. These proteins are also the target of several anti-cancer therapies. 
Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of this immunotherapy in a small group of patients who had both cancer and HIV and found that the patients' HIV reservoir decreased considerably. Though the research is in its early stages, next steps include combining the anti-immunotherapy drugs with antiretrovirals to awaken the virus and then remove infected cells. However, such a treatment may only be effective in certain groups of patients, and immunotherapy has considerable side effects that should not be taken lightly.


-Riasoya Jodah

Read more at:
University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM). "Using anti-cancer immunotherapy to fight HIV: Researchers are exploring a potential therapeutic approach." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 February 2019.