In patients with HTLV-1 associated acute T-cell leukemia, is there any clear benefit of adding antivirals?

Topics: Hematologic Malignancies • Medical Oncology • Leukemia • Infectious Disease

If yes, would you go with Zidovudine monotherapy versus combining with interferon-alpha? And what would be the preferred dose and duration?

Answer from: at Academic Institution

There is no virologic rationale for using antivirals to treat HTLV-1-associated malignancies. HTLV-1 is a "transforming" retrovirus that directly causes cancer by oncogene expression. There is no significant "lytic" replication occurring once the cancer has manifested. Antiretrovirals only work with...

Comments

at University of Mississippi School of Medicine
Thank you Dr. @Winslow, that's helpful.

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