Dr. Ian Hampson and his colleagues at the School of Medicine's Division of Human Development and Reproduction conducted a study on developing the treatment from lopinavir, a type of drug that is given orally to treat HIV.

    They found that lopinavir, known as protease inhibitor, can selectively kill human papilloma virus (HPV) which causes cervical cancer, as well as HIV. And they believe lopinavir could eventually be made into a simple cream or pessary, offering an alternative to surgery for women with precancerous lesions.

    "It is very exciting to find such a significant new use for this HIV drug which is already licensed and FDA-approved for oral administration," said Dr Hampson.

    However, no clinical trials have yet commenced.

    "We are currently exploring the means of delivering this drug directly to the affected tissue. We would then move to a clinical trial that would be supervised by our head of unit Professor Henry C. Kitchener. If this proves successful we could see the treatment available fairly rapidly," he added.

    Adding anti-HPV vaccines are currently in the process of being licensed, Dr Hampson said, "not all lesions will be prevented and not all women will be vaccinated."

    He suggested that a non-surgical therapy will have significant advantages - better preservation of obstetric function, the potential for use in resource poor settings, such as underdeveloped countries, and it may appeal more to women than surgery.

    The research, funded by the Humane Research Trust, is to be published in the September issue of the journal Anti-Viral Therapy and is also being presented at the International HPV meeting in Prague on Sept. 5. Enditem

    (Agencies)