The antiviral HIV drug lopinavir has been successfully used to treat women with human papillomavirus positive, early stage cervical cancer.
The early stage clinical trial tested 40 Kenyan women with both early and advances pre-cancerous disease of the cervix. The antiviral drug was applied directly to the cervix in the form of a pessary. The drug is taken orally to treat HIV.
Of the 23 women diagnosed with high-grade disease, 19 had returned to normal after a short course of treatment. The 17 women diagnosed with borderline or low-grade disease showed similar improvements.
Whilst experts caution that further research and trials are needed, there is potential for the treatment to be used in the future to stop early stage cervical cancer which is caused by HPV.
Read more at Manchester University