Hope for a Possible Cure for HIV? This is What the Research Shows!

As technology advances and research progresses on HIV, there continue to be good news. The oldest patient to date has allegedly been cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant for leukemia, researchers announced this week, Reuters reported.

While the transplant was designed to treat the now 66-year-old patient’s leukemia, doctors also looked for a donor who was naturally resistant to the virus that causes AIDS, a mechanism that first worked to cure the “Berlin patient,” Timothy Ray Brown, in 2007.

The latest patient, the fourth to be cured by this technology, is known as the “City of Hope,” this name is given to protect the patient’s identity, who was treated by the American center in Duarte, California.

The patient has had HIV for the longest time, having been diagnosed in 1988 with what he described as a “death sentence” that killed many of his friends.The man has been on antiretroviral therapy (ART) to control his condition for more than 30 years.

Doctors presenting the data ahead of the 2022 International AIDS Society meeting said the case opened up the possibility for older HIV patients with blood cancers to access treatment.

Describing the cure as the “holy grail,” Sharon Lewin, president-elect of the IAS, said the case provides “constant hope…and inspiration” for people with HIV and the broader scientific community.

Though it is unlikely to make it an option for most cases due to the risks of the procedure,

Scientists believe the process works because the donor’s stem cells have a rare and specific genetic mutation, meaning they lack the receptors that HIV uses to infect cells.

Following his transplant three and a half years ago, which followed chemotherapy, the ‘City of Hope’ patient came off antiretroviral therapy in March 2021. He has been in remission from both HIV and leukemia for over a year, the team said.

On Wednesday, researchers in Spain also presented details of a 59-year-old woman who is part of a rare group known as “under post-treatment control.” These people may maintain undetectable viral loads after stopping antiretroviral therapy and could offer clues to a possible cure, Lewin said.

Ahead of the IAS conference that begins Friday, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) presented data showing how the COVID-19 pandemic derailed global efforts to tackle HIV, including a reversal of progress in the world’s most populous countries of Asia and the Pacific.

Check out our Living Y Ready Series for more on how HIV affects the Latino community and what we’re doing to spread positivity.