A man who had been living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) since the 1980s had recovered, his doctors said.

The patient received a bone marrow transplant from a donor who was naturally resistant to the virus to treat the leukemia.

The 66-year-old man, who preferred not to be identified, stopped taking anti-HIV drugs. This is the fourth case reported by scientists.

The patient said she was “beyond grateful” that the virus was no longer in her body.

The man received medical care at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Treatment Center in Duarte, California.

Many of his friends died of HIV before antiretroviral drugs could provide patients with a near-normal life expectancy.

“I no longer have HIV”

HIV damages the immune system. This can cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), as the body has a hard time fighting off infections.

“When I was diagnosed with HIV in 1988, like many others, I thought it was a death sentence. “I never thought I would live to see the day when I no longer have HIV,” the man said in a statement.

But he received this treatment not for HIV, but to treat leukemia, which he had suffered from since the age of 63.

The medical team decided that the patient needed a bone marrow transplant to replace the cancerous blood cells. Coincidentally, the donor was HIV resistant.

The virus enters the body’s white blood cells through a microscopic door: a protein called CCR5.

However, some people, including the donor, have mutations in CCR5 that close the door and prevent the entry of HIV.

The cure is still the “holy grail”

The patient was followed closely after the transplant and HIV levels in his body became undetectable.

He has been in remission for over 17 months.

Infectious disease specialist at City of Hope, Dr. “We were thrilled to report that her HIV is in remission and that she no longer needs to take the antiretroviral therapy she has had for over 30 years,” said Jana Dickter.

This first happened in 2011, when Timothy Ray Brown, known as the ‘Berlin patient’, became the first person in the world to be treated with HIV. Brown died of cancer in September 2020.

There have already been three similar cases in the last three years.

The City of Hope patient is the oldest patient to receive this treatment and the longest living with HIV.

However, a bone marrow transplant will not revolutionize HIV treatment for the 38 million infected people around the world.

“It’s a complex procedure with significant potential side effects. As such, it’s not really a viable option for most people living with HIV,” Dickter explained.

However, researchers are looking for ways to target the CCR5 gate through gene therapy as a potential treatment.

The case was announced at the Aids 2022 conference in Montreal, Canada.

“Treatment remains the holy grail of HIV research,” said Professor Sharon Lewin, elected president of the International AIDS Society.

Lewin recalled that there were “a handful of individual treatment cases before” that “inspired continued hope and the scientific community for people living with HIV.”