On the heels of World AIDS Day comes a stunning medical breakthrough: Doctors believe an HIV-positive man who underwent a stem cell transplant has been cured as a result of the procedure.

Timothy Ray Brown, also known as the "Berlin Patient," received the transplant in 2007 as part of a lengthy treatment course for leukemia. His doctors recently published a report in the journal Blood affirming that the results of extensive testing "strongly suggest that cure of HIV infection has been achieved."

Brown's case paves a path for constructing a permanent cure for HIV through genetically-engineered stem cells.

Last week, Time named another AIDS-related discovery to its list of the Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2010. Recent studies show that healthy individuals who take antiretrovirals, medicine commonly prescribed for treating HIV, can reduce their risk of contracting the disease by up to 73 percent.

While these developments by no means prove a cure for the virus has been found, they can certainly provide hope for the more than 33 million people living with HIV worldwide. Alongside such findings, global efforts to combat the epidemic have accelerated as of late, with new initiatives emerging in the Philippines and South Africa this week.

First HIV 'cure' comes with a very big catch
December 15, 2010 — 12:03pm ET | By John Carroll

In a rare victory against AIDS, German scientists say that three years after a unique stem cell transplant was tried on a patient, "cure of HIV has been achieved in this" man. This is the first time anyone has been pronounced cured of the disease. But as New Scientist notes, their radical therapy strategy offers no hope for the tens of millions of people around the world with the lethal virus.

Working with a myeloid leukemia patient who also suffered from AIDS, the investigators first used chemo to attack the cancer and then transplanted bone marrow containing stem cells from a matched donor. But this was no ordinary match. The donor was one of a handful of people whose stem cells carried a specific genetic mutation which provides natural resistance to the virus. Only one in 100 Europeans carry the CCR5 gene.

''Cured' is a strong word. But this is very encouraging,'' said Dr David Scadden, a co-director of the Harvard University Stem Cell Institute. ''From all indications, there was no residual virus. It's as good an outcome as one could hope for.''


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