Race and Response to HIV Treatment

Blacks in the U.S. have often been shown to have lower rates of virologic response to HIV treatment than whites, even in settings where they have equal access to treatment and care. Two studies presented at CROI 2011 further unravel the role of race in treatment response.

In ACTG 5202, 1857 treatment-naive HIV-infected patients (33% black) were randomized to receive tenofovir/FTC or abacavir/3TC, plus either efavirenz or ritonavir-boosted atazanavir. Blacks were significantly more likely than whites to experience virologic failure (relative risks, 1.5 in the abacavir/3TC arm and 2.4 in the tenofovir/FTC arm), probably because of issues related to adherence and regimen tolerability. Blacks were twice as likely as whites to report less-than-pe…