UK scientists could have possibly found a way to cure HIV, after their first study showed a good result. One of the 50 patients who underwent an experimental therapy shows no traces of the virus in his blood.
A 44-year-old British social worker was among the 50 patients who received the experimental therapy. Reports said that the therapy eliminated the traces of HIV in his blood.
However, the team of scientists from the country's leading universities said that it is too early to say that they are successful. "We are exploring the real possibility of curing HIV," says Mark Samuels of the National Institute for Health Research Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure. It is still in early days but the progress has been remarkable, he added, as reported by Fox News.
Currently, the virus is being treated by antiretroviral therapy (ART). It works by keeping the virus from spreading while giving the body's immune system a chance to recover. ART, however, is not designed to totally cure HIV. Once the therapy stops, the virus returns.
The new study to cure HIV is called "Kick and Kill." The researchers activate the "sleeping" virus infected cell using a cancer drug that kick-starts the immune system into killing the virus.
Professor Jonathan Weber, the chair of Collaborative HIV Eradication of Viral Reservoirs: UK BRC (CHERUB) Scientific Steering Committee and director of research for the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London stated that the team has made a great progress since it was started six years ago.
CHERUB is now actively recruiting patients to undergo the "Kick and Kill" theory since they have seen good results in the lab. Weber also said that the team is committed to finding a cure for the HIV. However, if the collaboration between the set of researchers have not been started six years ago, the results they have now would not have happened, Med Scape reported.
