A London man who received a bone marrow transplant using HIV-resistant stem cells continues to show no evidence of active virus 30 months after he stopped antiretroviral treatment. Like Timothy Ray Brown, the only other person known to be cured of HIV, the London man underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat advanced blood cancer. His donor had an uncommon natural mutation that produces immune cells lacking the CCR5 receptors HIV uses to enter CD4 cells. After extensive testing was unable to detect functional virus, he stopped taking his HIV meds in a closely monitored treatment interruption. At last year’s Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, researchers reported that the man remained free of HIV 18 months later. At this year’s meeting, they reported that they still could not detect functional HIV in his blood plasma, semen or brain fluid or in lymph node and gut tissue samples 30 months after his treatment interruption, leading them to conclude that he is “almost certainly” cured.
Cure: Second HIV Cure
London man, who was treated for lymphoma with a stem cell transplant using HIV-resistant stem cells, is “almost certainly” cured of HIV.
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