title: Third line anti-HIV therapy options.
abstract: Third line therapy, sometimes called salvage or rescue therapy, is a term describing treatment regimens for people who have few or limited anti-HIV drug options. This includes people who have failed at least two previous anti-HIV regimens and/or people with evidence of HIV resistance to at least one drug in each of three major classes (NRTIs, NNRTIs and PIs, see the Drug ID chart on page 9 for more information on the drugs in each class). True salvage or deep salvage therapy is when a person has literally no viable treatment options. Treatment failure is a general term that encompasses a number of reasons that a regimen is deemed to be not working. The specific reasons for failure determines if or how the individual drugs in a regimen might be used again as part of a future combination.
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016879:Salvage Therapy; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents