‘Berlin patient’ Timothy Ray Brown, first person cured of HIV, dies of cancer
“Berlin patient” Timothy Ray Brown, the first person cured of HIV, has died following a recurrence of leukemia, according to the International AIDS Society.
Brown’s partner, Tim Hoeffgen, said Brown died Tuesday at his home in California, the Associated Press reported. He was 54.
Brown’s leukemia had entered his spine and brain, the International AIDS Society (IAS) said. He remained free of detectable HIV without treatment for more than a decade after undergoing a bone marrow transplant in 2007 with cells from a donor with the rare CCR5-delta 32 genetic mutation, which prevents HIV from entering human cells, creating natural resistance to the virus.
Scientists announced last year that a man in London became the second person to be potentially cured of HIV this way after undergoing chemotherapy and receiving a stem cell transplant from a donor with the mutation. Adam Castillejo, known as the “London patient,” remains in HIV remission.
“Although the cases of Timothy and Adam are not a viable large-scale strategy for a cure, they do represent a critical moment in the search for an HIV cure,” IAS president-elect Sharon Lewin, FRACP, PhD, FAHMS, said.
HIV researchers this year announced two other significant cases: a man who has apparently achieved long-term remission following a specialized treatment regimen, and a women who may have naturally achieved a sterilizing cure of HIV. Neither patient was the recipient of a stem cell transplant.
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