Salvage therapy
Encyclopedia
Salvage therapy is a form of treatment given after an ailment does not respond to standard treatment. The most common diseases that require salvage therapy are HIV
and various tumors. The word is not clearly defined; it is used both to mean a second attempt and a final attempt.
s (ARVs) are given to slow down the HIV reproduction, which in turn increases quality of life and survival. If the patient's viral load starts to increase instead of staying very low, it almost always means the virus has developed a resistance to the ARVs. As more and more mutations develop, it becomes harder to select an ARV that will contain it. Salvage therapy is the attempt to contain it, even though there are no common options.
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
and various tumors. The word is not clearly defined; it is used both to mean a second attempt and a final attempt.
HIV
Antiretroviral drugAntiretroviral drug
Antiretroviral drugs are medications for the treatment of infection by retroviruses, primarily HIV. When several such drugs, typically three or four, are taken in combination, the approach is known as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, or HAART...
s (ARVs) are given to slow down the HIV reproduction, which in turn increases quality of life and survival. If the patient's viral load starts to increase instead of staying very low, it almost always means the virus has developed a resistance to the ARVs. As more and more mutations develop, it becomes harder to select an ARV that will contain it. Salvage therapy is the attempt to contain it, even though there are no common options.