Posted: 23 July 2025
Approximately 10 million people worldwide are affected by HTLV-1, a virus that can cause severe disease but currently has no cure or preventive therapy. A collaborative study by WEHI and the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity has now opened the door to a potential breakthrough.
Published in Cell, the research demonstrated that widely used HIV treatments can suppress HTLV-1 transmission in a mouse model. This finding could help lay the foundation for the first-ever therapies aimed at halting the spread of the virus, which is prevalent in numerous Indigenous communities globally, including those in Central Australia.
The study also uncovered a previously unrecognised therapeutic target that may enable the clearance of HTLV-1 infected cells in individuals with established infections—offering a new path to slow or prevent disease progression.
Dr Marcel Doerflinger, WEHI Laboratory Head and co-lead author, highlighted the significance of the findings: “This is the first time HTLV-1 has been suppressed in a living system. Because symptoms often emerge decades after infection, the immune system may already be significantly compromised by the time someone is diagnosed.”
The research team also found that using HIV antivirals alongside a treatment that blocks MCL-1—a protein known to protect diseased cells—could selectively eliminate infected human cells in mice. Building on these results, the group is now investigating RNA-based strategies to more precisely target MCL-1 and develop combined therapies ready for clinical testing.
Researchers believe this approach could ultimately lead to an effective treatment strategy for HTLV-1, one of the world’s most overlooked yet dangerous viral infections.
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