A recent study published in the journal AIDS has found that HIV-positive individuals undergoing HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy) have shown no decline in the incidence of anal cancer.
Anal cancer is a disease in which cancer cells form inside the anal tissue lining. Common symptoms include bleeding, lumps, or pain in the anal area. Additionally, anal discharge and itching are other signs of anal cancer.
The incidence of anal cancer is increasingly common in HIV-positive individuals.
According to a study in Oncology Reports, individuals with HIV are 30 to 50 times more…
Scientists and researchers from around the globe met last week for the 17th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), a four-day conference presenting the latest research about prevention, treatment, and insight into HIV/AIDS and its complications.
Topics ran the gamut from novel therapies to public health strategies aimed at the global pandemic.
What follows are a few of the developments from the conference.
The View From NIAID
On the first day of the conference, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), addressed the crowd and…
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), a Los Angeles based advocacy and treatment organization, continues to express concern over the high pricing for Merck’s anti-HIV drug, Isentress.
Isentress is an antiretroviral drug in the class known as integrase inhibitors. It was first approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October 2007 for use in patients resistant to other HIV drugs, which is known as salvage therapy.
In July 2009, Isentress received FDA approval for use as first-line treatment, meaning that physicians can prescribe it for newly diagnosed patients who…
By the start of 2010, Haiti had begun to make strides towards alleviating the high HIV prevalence plaguing the nation. However, in the wake of the catastrophic earthquake this past January, the country is in dire need of foreign aid to rebuild the HIV/AIDS program it once had, lest what progress had been made is lost.
Before the quake, Haiti had an adult HIV prevalence of 2.2 percent and a total of approximately 120,000 people living with HIV. These thousands accounted for 47 percent of all people living with HIV in…
The FDA has issued a drug safety requirement stating that all Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agents (ESAs) are to be prescribed and used under a risk management program, called risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS), in order to ensure and promote safe usage of these drugs.
ESAs are used to treat anemia in individuals with chronic kidney failure, undergoing chemotherapy, HIV patients using zidovudine (Retrovir) and to reduce the number of blood transfusions during and after particular major surgeries. The mechanism of action of ESAs is to stimulate red blood cell production by…