接受蛋白酶抑制剂治疗(作为抗病毒疗法的一部分)的艾滋病(AIDS)患者不但能降低病毒荷载水平和增高T-细胞计数,而且还能降低卡波济氏肉瘤的发病率。卡波济氏肉瘤是一种与疱疹病毒-8感染有关的癌症。虽然最初的研究将这些抗癌作用归因于此类药物的抗病毒活性,但研究人员现已证实,蛋白酶抑制剂茚地那韦(indinavir)和沙奎那韦(saquinavir)也具有强有力的抗血管发生的作用。 AIDS patients treated with protease inhibitors (as part of antiviral therapy) not only reduce viral load levels and increase T-cell counts, but also reduce the incidence of Kaposi’s sarcoma. Kaposi’s sarcoma is a cancer associated with herpes virus-8 infection. Although the initial study attributed these anti-cancer effects to the antiviral activity of such drugs, researchers have now shown that the protease inhibitors indinavir and saquinavir also have potent anti-cancer activity The role of angiogenesis.