HOPE

Case Study: Cancer Drug Delivers Shock HIV Improvement

The results of just a single patient on Opdivo have been released due to surprise findings.

Researchers say a new cancer drug has demonstrated an unexpected effect on the HIV infection of a cancer patient in Paris. According to a letter published Friday in Annals of Oncology, a 51-year-old man involved in the case study has had HIV since 1995. Opdivo, a Bristol-Myers Squibb drug designed to treat late-stage lung cancer, caused a “drastic and sustained decrease” in the reservoir of cells where the virus can hide to evade existing treatment. Scientists said they have opted to promote the results of this single case—an unusual move—because the findings are so rare and unexpected. “Although this is a single case study, it is an exciting result,” said Fabrice André, the cancer journal’s editor in chief. “Anti-HIV drugs usually stop virus replication but don’t cure the patients.”