A new weapon in the war against HIV-AIDS: Combined antiviral and targeted chemotherapyJune 22, 2009A discovery by a team of Canadian and American researchers could provide new ways to fight HIV-AIDS. According to a new study published in Nature Medicine, HIV-AIDS could be treated through a combination of targeted chemotherapy and current Highly Active Retroviral (HAART) treatments. This radical new therapy would make it possible to destroy both the viruses circulating in the body as well as those playing hide-and-seek in immune system cells. The study was led by Dr. Rafick-Pierre Sékaly, of the Université de Montréal. Dr. Jean-Pierre Routy of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the University of Minnesota in the United States also collaborated on the investigation. To date, anti-AIDS treatments have been stymied by "HIV reservoirs" - immune system cells where the virus hides and where existing HAART treatments cannot reach. The researchers successfully identified the cells where HIV hides and the "stealth" mechanisms that allow the virus to escape existing treatments. This breakthrough opens the way towards innovative therapies that are completely different from current approaches. "Our results argue in favour of a strategy similar to the one used against leukemia, which is targeted chemotherapy, associated with a targeted immune treatment. This would make it possible to destroy the cells containing a virus, while giving the immune system time to regenerate with healthy cells," says Dr. Rafick-Pierre Sékaly, a professor at the Université de Montréal, researcher at the Centre Hospitalier de Université de Montréal (CHUM), director of INSERM 743 and scientific director of the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute of Florida. "For the first time, this study proves that the HIV reservoirs are not due to a lack of potency of the antiretroviral drugs, but to the virus hiding inside two different types of long life CD4 memory immune cells," explains Dr. Jean-Pierre Routy, a hematologist with the MUHC, researcher in infection and immunity at the RI-MUHC and professor of hematology at McGill University. "There are several types of HIV reservoirs, each necessitating a different treatment to eliminate them." Indeed, once the virus is hidden in these reservoir cells, it becomes dependent on them: if the cell lives, the virus lives, but if the cell dies, so does the virus. As such, destroying these immune cells will allow for the elimination of the resilient or hidden parts of the virus. Existing HAART treatments destroy the viruses circulating in the body, yet cannot reach those hidden in reservoir cells. "We now have brand-new options to fight HIV," concludes Nicolas Chomont, a postdoctoral intern at the Université de Montréal's Department of Microbiology and Immunology and one of the co-authors of this study. "The combination of fundamental and clinical approaches led to amazing results that allow us to elucidate another mystery of this virus of a thousand faces." These new therapeutic options will require many more years of research before they are validated and become a reality for patients. However, this study represents an invaluable work plan that will provide a map for many laboratories around the world. University of Montreal |
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| Related Chemotherapy Current Events and Chemotherapy News Articles First use of antibody and stem cell transplantation to successfully treat advanced leukemia For the first time, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have reported the use of a radiolabeled antibody to deliver targeted doses of radiation, followed by a stem cell transplant, to successfully treat a group of leukemia and pre-leukemia patients for whom there previously had been no other curative treatment options. New Synthetic Molecules Trigger Immune Response to HIV and Prostate Cancer Researchers at Yale University have developed synthetic molecules capable of enhancing the body's immune response to HIV and HIV-infected cells, as well as to prostate cancer cells. Their findings, published online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could lead to novel therapeutic approaches for these diseases. Chemo-radiation before prostate removal may prevent cancer recurrence Researchers in the Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center have found a combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy given before prostate removal is safe and may have the potential to reduce cancer recurrence and improve patient survival. PMH finding may help some tonsil cancer patients avoid chemotherapy Clinical researchers at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) have confirmed that patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer ("tonsil cancer") harbour a common type of human papilloma virus (HPV16), but also that such cancers are very sensitive to radiation. Study of concurrent radiotherapy, chemotherapy shows promise in small cell lung cancer Treating limited stage small cell lung cancer(LSCL) with a combination of accelerated high-dose radiotherapy and chemotherapy has shown encouraging results. Blood vessels might predict prostate cancer behavior A diagnosis of prostate cancer raises the question for patients and their physicians as to how the tumor will behave. Will it grow quickly and aggressively and require continuous treatment, or slowly, allowing therapy and its risks to be safely delayed? Discovery offers potential new pancreatic cancer treatment Tiny particles that can carry drugs and target cancer cells may offer treatment hope for those suffering with pancreatic cancer. New research to be presented in November at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting in Los Angeles reveals that tumor-penetrating microparticles (TPM) have been specifically designed to break through hard-to-infiltrate barriers and deliver drugs more effectively and efficiently than the standard form of chemotherapy such as those injected through a vein. Early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer patients at increased risk of recurrence Early-stage breast cancer patients with HER2 positive tumors one centimeter or smaller are at significant risk of recurrence of their disease, compared to those with early-stage disease who do not express the aggressive protein, according to a study led by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. An exquisite container In campy old movies, Lucretia Borgia swans around emptying powder from her ring into wine glasses carelessly left unattended. The poison ring is usually a confection of gold filigree holding a cabochon or faceted gemstone that can be broken to empty the ring's contents. It is invariably enormous - so large it is rather odd nobody seems to notice it. Duke develops nano-scale drug delivery for chemotherapy Going smaller could bring better results, especially when it comes to cancer-fighting drugs. More Chemotherapy Current Events and Chemotherapy News Articles |
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