An existing blood cancer drug has shown promise in killing 'silent' HIV cells in animal models and human cells from people living with HIV—a significant pre-clinical discovery that could lead to a cure for the disease.
HIV virions, like the one depicted here in red, can hide inside immune cells and escape detection by the body. This is the main barrier to current cure efforts. Credit: Drew Berry, wehi.tv
Led by WEHI and The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity , the landmark study is being translated into a new clinical trial to assess whether the blood cancer treatment can be repurposed to offer a pathway towards an HIV cure. ART for people living with HIV is life-long: if a person stops taking this medication, hibernating HIV-infected cells will reactivate within a very short timeframe, leading to a resurgence of the virus. An estimated 98% of Australians living with HIV currently have undetectable levels of the virus, as it is completely suppressed by their ongoing ART treatment.on enhanced pre-clinical models of HIV and found it delayed the virus from rebounding by two weeks, even without ART.
The study marks the first time venetoclax has been used on its own to assess HIV persistence in pre-clinical models. However, researchers also found the cancer treatment can be combined with another drug that acts on the same pathway and is currently in, to achieve a longer delay in viral rebound, with a shorter duration of venetoclax treatment.
Co-first author, The University of Melbourne's Dr. Youry Kim and a Postdoctoral researcher at the Doherty Institute, said venetoclax potently reduced the amount of intact viral DNA in patient cells when studied in the laboratory.
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