A drug used to treat HIV could also be used to protect women from developing cervical cancer, researchers have revealed.
This is because the HIV drug can also eliminate the cancer-causing human papillomavirus, HPV, researchers have found.
The possibility of using the HIV drug, lopinavir, has emerged from a study in Nairobi, Kenya.
Researchers say a short course of the drug led to a large number of women being cleared of infection with HPV.
The study also found that most of the women were cleared of pre-cancerous cervical disease – with smears finding no evidence of concern.
The treatment was given to 40 women, of whom 23 had high-grade disease – and out of these 23, 19 had returned to normal three months after treatment.
The women took a capsule of the drug twice a day for two weeks.
Researchers Drs Ian and Lynne Hampson, from Manchester University, UK, are due to present their findings at two international conferences.
Ian Hampson said: “For an early stage clinical trial the results have exceeded our expectations. We have seen women with high-grade disease revert to a normal healthy cervix within a comparatively short period of time.
“It is our hope that this treatment has the potential to revolutionise the management of this disease most particularly in developing nations such as Kenya."
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