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| HIV particles infecting a human T cell--Courtesy of NIAID/NIH |
Only one person, known as the "Berlin patient," is considered to have been completely cured of HIV infection. Brown had HIV for 11 years and had been taking antiretroviral drugs to keep levels of the virus in check when he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2006. He received radiation therapy and a bone-marrow transplant from a donor with a specific genetic mutation to treat the leukemia and afterward went off antiretrovirals in 2009. Then, the unthinkable happened: Brown's HIV levels plunged. He was no longer considered HIV positive. A new monkey study points to how Brown's cancer treatment may have resulted in his miraculous recovery. More from FierceBiotechResearch