Prevent Cervical Cancer with HIV Drugs

The study says a simple treatment using HIV drugs can prevent cervical cancer by killing the human papilloma virus (HPV).

The study is published in Antiviral Therapy journal May 2011 edition.

Researchers from the University of Manchester in collaboration with researchers in Canada, discover how to attack lopinavir, HPV antiviral drugs, with a shift in the virus's natural defense system in infected cells.

"We have now found that lopinavir selectively able to kill HPV-infected and healthy cells relatively unaffected," said Dr Ian Hampson, Manchester's School of Cancer and Enabling Sciences.

"This is a very important discovery. Therefore, these cells are not cancer cells, but leads like cells found in precancerous cervical HPV infection Besides us. also able to show that lopinavir can kill the HPV and re-enable the antivirus system is suppressed by HPV, "she said.

"Our results indicate that this drug can work against HPV and dipelrlukan about 10-15 times the concentration of HIV-infected patients. This means to work, this drug can be applied as a cream or pessary," he added.

Lynne Hampson said: "The results were very interesting because it shows that these drugs not only kill non cancer cells infected with HPV, but also non-toxic for HPV are not infected."