Combating HIV, One Tumor at a Time

The discovery by Luc Montagnier and Robert C. Gallo of a novel human retrovirus, and Gallo’s demonstration that this virus was the cause of AIDS, were the first major milestones in our efforts to understand, prevent, and treat the disease. surfaced. Though heroic measures were often utilized to try to treat these patients, they generally died within several months. It was not known how many people had this disease, how it was transmitted, or if anything could be done to treat it effectively. The NCI had many tools in place to address this new disease, including expertise in immunology, retrovirology, tumor biology, and drug development. I believe that the rapid development of advanced treatments for HIV, in particular highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), was the result of a keen and farsighted, though sometimes controversial, research focus at NCI on HIV itself.