To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Patients Who Resume Therapy After Treatment Interruption Regain Some But Not All Effectiveness Against HIV: Presented at CROI URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/21C866.htm Doctor's Guide February 5, 2008
By Ed Susman BOSTON, MA -- February 5, 2008 -- Patients who restart antiretroviral therapy for HIV after structured interruptions regain some of the lost ground against the disease but still have more illness than people who stay on medication continuously. "Following the recommendation to reinitiate antiretroviral therapy for patients in the drug conservation group, risk of opportunistic disease or death was significantly reduced," reported Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine, Harlem Hospital and Columbia University, New York, New York. Dr. El-Sadr presented the findings at a press briefing during the 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). "However, there was less than full reversal of risk for drug conservation patients compared with those patients who maintained viral suppression for opportunistic disease or death," Dr. El-Sadr noted. "These findings reinforce our recommendation not to interrupt antiretroviral therapy using the CD4-guided strategy evaluated in the SMART [Strategies for Management of Antiretroviral Therapy] study and may have implications for other antiretroviral interruption strategies," Dr. El-Sadr said on February 3 before her formal presentation at the conference on February 4. In the SMART study, researchers randomized 5,472 patients with HIV infection to 2 strategies: one group remained on viral suppressive antiretroviral therapy continuously, while the others were allowed to stop taking medication until their CD4-positive cell counts decreased to less than 250 cells/mm3. They restarted therapy at that point and stayed on medication until their cell counts rebounded to about 350 cells/mm3. Two years ago, Dr. El-Sadr reported that the trial was halted when it became apparent that patients in the drug conservation group were dying or becoming ill with AIDS-defining infections at twice the rate of those who were on viral suppression. All the patients were then kept on suppressive regimens. Patients who were originally on intermittent therapy, however, failed to rebound completely. Two years after resuming full suppression, their risk of dying or of suffering opportunistic disease was 37% greater compared with patients who had remained on suppressive therapy throughout the course of the study (P =.02). [Presentation title: Re-Initiation of ART in the CD4-guided ART Interruption Group in the SMART Study Lowers Risk of Opportunistic Disease or Death. Abstract 36] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.