What Will It Take to Cure HIV?

Investigational strategies to attempt HIV cure or remission include very early initiation of antiretroviral therapy to limit the latent HIV reservoir and preinfection vaccination. In the setting of viral suppression, strategies include reactivation of latently infected cells (eg, through "shock" therapy with histone deacetylase inhibitors or other agents); use of broadly neutralizing antibodies, therapeutic vaccines, immunotoxins, or other immune-based therapies to kill latently infected cells; and gene editing to induce target cell resistance (eg, by eliminating the CC chemokine receptor 5 [CCR5] coreceptor). Improved ability to detect and quantify very low levels of virus is needed. This article summarizes a presentation by Jintanat Ananworanich, MD, PhD, at the IAS-USA continuing education program held in New York, New York, in October 2014.