HIV drug found to be successful HPV treatment

A drug that is commonly used for the treatment of HIV has been found to successfully kill off the human papilloma virus (HPV). This virus can lead to cervical cancer but has been found to be treatable with the use of the drug lopinavir. 

The first clinical trial of its kind, run by the University of Manchester with Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Nairobi, has found that the HIV drug can be used to treat women that are diagnosed with HPV. 

Researchers looked at 40 Kenyan women who had been diagnosed with early stage cervical cancer that tested positive for HPV. All of the women were diagnosed with high or low-grade pre-cancerous disease of the cervix and were treated with pessaries of lopinavir, which they could apply to the cervix themselves.

The results of the treatment found that a large number of the women that were diagnosed with HPV positive high-grade disease and treated with a short course of one pessary twice a day for two weeks, returned to normal. 

Cervical smears found that many of the women showed a great improvement within the month following treatment. However, the best results were found three months after treatment when 19 out of the 23 women that were diagnosed with the high-grade disease had returned to normal, while two were found to have the low-grade disease. This signals that responses to the treatment were mostly positive.

It was also found that cervical lesions regressed following treatment in women that were diagnosed with borderline or low-grade disease. None of the women reported any adverse reactions to the HIV medication.

Dr Ian Hampson, from the University of Manchester's Institute of Cancer Sciences, said: "For an early stage clinical trial the results have exceeded our expectations. We have seen women with high-grade disease revert to a normal healthy cervix within a comparatively short period of time. 

"We are convinced that further optimisation of the dose and treatment period will improve the efficacy still further. It is our hope that this treatment has the potential to revolutionise the management of this disease most particularly in developing nations such as Kenya."