Successful Treatment
Timothy Brown - aka "the Berlin Patient"
Timothy Brown was diagnosed with HIV and recieved HIV antiretroviral treatment to alleviate the disease. He also had acute myeloid leukemia (AML). To treat AML requires a hematopoetic stem cell transfer. It has been researched that individuals with a mutation on the CCR5 receptor gene that codes for receptor proteins expressed on immune system cells such as T cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells show resistance to HIV and rare progression to AIDS. As stated in the indepth analysis of the virus, the CCR5 is an important receptor for the HIV virus to attach and infect immune cells, so a mutation to this receptor would limit the virus' ability to infect. (#1) Thus, in 2007 Brown recieved bone marrow from an individual who had the CCR5 mutation. Brown stopped taking his antiretrovirals. 3 months after the initial transplant, his HIV levels significantly decreased while his CD4 T cell count significantly increased. Today, he is almost 50 and is said to be cured as he is living his life without using any kind of HIV therapy. (#2)
Timothy Brown is the first and only patient cured of HIV at the moment. While bone marrow transplants seem promising (as they cured Brown), there are so many lethal problems that can arise from such a transplant stemming from host versus graft rejection or graft versus host rejection. Finding perfect bone marrow matches are extremely difficult as even minor differenes can cause full body rejection leading to death.
Below is video in which Timothy Brown is interviewed and talks about the different HIV therapies he's tried before the transplantation (including AZT). He also speaks on the personal side of what it is like to be a patient with a disease that was once thought to be incurable.