Strategies for third line HIV therapy

May 2008     View PDF     En español

A final word on third line therapy

The first step in developing a strategy for third line therapy is to understand why your current regimen is no longer working and why earlier ones have “failed”. This helps make clearer what options truly are available to you. Resistance test results are necessary to guide these decisions.

Ideally, creating a regimen with at least two drugs that are active against HIV is often possible by using resistance test results, expert guidance and new treatments. When it’s not possible, getting into expanded access programs and clinical studies may offer other options for you.

Some people may continue to benefit from their current regimens even as their HIV levels increase. Therefore, those who can safely wait for new drugs to become available in order to build a new regimen with two active drugs may wish to do so. However, waiting until your HIV level climbs above 100,000 may further limit your treatment options down the road.

Over the past 10 years, most new HIV drugs have been studied first in people with extensive treatment experience. Some of the newer generation of drugs have shown the best-ever results in these people. While many have been helped by these new drugs, Project Inform continues to push for new options for heavily treatment experienced people.