Last week, CNN reported that two patients with HIV are showing no signs of the virus in their bloodstream following bone marrow transplants. The two men, whose identities are not known, were on antiretroviral (ARV) drug therapy for years before receiving a lymphoma diagnosis. Following the diagnosis, the two men received thorough chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants, remaining on ARV therapy. Six to nine months later, the virus was undetectable. The two men have been living with the virus for roughly 30 years.

The news was presented at the International AIDS Society Conference, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The clinical trial, which was conducted by Dr. Timothy Henrich, is still being closely monitored by experts at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, and is being labeled as an impractical approach for most people with the virus: The mortality rate for the transplant is up to 20%., according to Henrich.

Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases at the Nation Institutes of Health, Dr. Anthony Fauci, expressed a similar concern.
“This is not a practical approach for someone who does not need a stem cell transplant since the transplant and its preparation and its subsequent need for chronic immunosuppression is a risky procedure,” says Fauci. “If you have a tumor like these patients had, then the risk outweighs the benefit. However, if you are doing well on ARVs and you merely want to get off ARV therapy, then the risk seems greater than the benefit.”

Henrich told BBC the results were promising, but addressed the elephant in the room: “We have not demonstrated cure, we’re going to need longer follow-up.” Henrich said, “What we can say is if the virus does stay away for a year or even two years after we stopped the treatment, that the chances of the virus rebounding are going to be extremely low. It’s much too early at this point to use the C-word.”

The C-word Henrich is referring to is “cure,” and while it still may not be final, it’s a huge moment for the development of a cure. Henrich is hopeful of the evidence, going on to say, “I think we can learn quite a bit from this type of study.” This recent treatment ties in to Timothy Brown, codenamed “Berlin patient,” who had a bone marrow transplant from a donor who was resistant to HIV, and is said to be the first person to be cured of AIDS. These patients however, received bone marrow from regular donors, speculating that stem-cell transplants may lead to a cure down the road. Kevin Frost, the head of the Foundation for AIDS Research, released a statement expressing his excitement for the research: “While stem-cell transplantation is not a viable option for people with HIV on a broad scale because of its costs and complexity, these new cases could lead us to new approaches to treating, and ultimately even eradicating, HIV.”

“It’s really very exciting,” said IAS president-elect, Chris Beyrer, MD. “I’ve never seen this much enthusiasm for the cure research agenda.”