Studies Show No Benefit From Treatment Breaks

Three new studies add even more evidence to the growing sentiment that interruptions of antiretroviral treatment are not clinically beneficial. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, have determined that HIV-positive people on failing drug regimens do not gain any immunological or virological benefit from treatment breaks. Previous data from the same study showed no clinical benefit from taking a four-month treatment interruption before changing anti-HIV regimens. A study in the August 1 edition of The Journal of Infectious Diseases showed that treatment interruptions involving cycles of four-week treatment breaks followed by eight weeks on anti-HIV therapy did not prime the immune system to better recognize and combat HIV in the body, as had been hoped. Viral loads and long-term adverse drug-related side effects also were not significantly reduced, according to the study, which was canceled early because of safety concerns. Even a week-on, week-off treatment approach, designed to minimize medication costs and reduce adverse antiretroviral-related side effects, was shown to be ineffective. Research presented in July at the International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment showed that the strategy resulted in treatment failure, as defined by two consecutive viral load measurements above 500 copies, in 53% of the study participants after four complete on-off cycles. That study also was discontinued.