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3TC

3TC

1 8.9
A medicine used with other medicines to treat HIV by stopping the virus from making more copies
  • noun
  • Specialized
: 3TC
  • The doctor prescribed 3TC for the patient's HIV treatment.

Examples

  • Resistance to 3TC may develop if taken as a single agent, so it is used with other medications.

  • Clinical studies show that 3TC can significantly reduce the viral load in patients.

  • The doctor prescribed 3TC as part of a combination therapy for the patient with HIV.

  • Many patients take 3TC along with other medications.

  • Clinical studies show that 3TC can significantly reduce the viral load in patients.

  • The doctor prescribed 3TC as part of a combination therapy for the patient with HIV.

  • Resistance to 3TC may develop if taken as a single agent, so it is used with other medications.

Synonyms

lamivudine
vs3TC
  • Specialized
1 7.2

A medicine often used with other drugs to treat HIV by reducing the virus in the body

is the same compound but named by a short alphanumeric code

An HIV drug that joins viral DNA and stops the enzyme that copies the virus

refers to one specific drug rather than the whole class
NRTI
vs3TC
  • Specialized
1 7.6

A drug that stops HIV from copying itself by making its new DNA incomplete

names one specific compound instead of the whole class

Surface Forms

3TC singular
3TCs plural

Etymology

3TC began as a simple lab code for the drug lamivudine: the 3 marks a place on the molecule and the TC part comes from thiacytidine, a chemical piece that contains 'sulfur'. Because that short code became the drug's common name, 3TC now refers to the HIV medicine lamivudine used in combination with other drugs to treat the virus.