Fig. 1.

ART regimen chosen for first-line therapy can affect eligibility for a therapeutic cure. The incidence of treatment failure and/or drug resistance on an NNRTI+2 NRTI regimen is greatly increased relative to individuals receiving DTG+2 NRTI treatment. As a result of failing first-line therapy, PLWH may initiate PI- and RAL-based regimens, which have heightened incidence of failure and resistance. Effective ART allows more PLWH to maintain first-line therapy and facilitates initiatives to achieve therapeutic cure. NNRTI non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, NRTI nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor, DTG dolutregravir, PI protease inhibitor, RAL raltegravir