Toronto Man in Remission from HIV After Bone Marrow Transplant for Cancer

A 62-year-old man from Toronto who was diagnosed with HIV in 1999 appears to have eradicated the virus following a bone marrow transplant performed to treat life-threatening blood cancer. The Toronto patient stopped taking antiretroviral therapy in 2025. As of April 2026 his HIV levels were undetectable, according to Dr.

Sharon Walmsley, director of the HIV/AIDS clinic at Toronto General Hospital. The patient developed the blood cancer in 2021 and received chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant that year. ” Walmsley said that for the Toronto patient it meant not only has he survived this cancer, but now he appears to have eradicated his HIV.

If the Toronto patient's HIV remains undetectable for roughly another 20 months from April 2026 he will be considered cured. The bone marrow treatment is considered to have cured between five and 10 others worldwide of HIV. The donor cells for the Toronto patient contained a rare genetic mutation called “delta-32” in the CCR5 gene.

Microbiology and immunology professor Eric Arts stated that only one to two per cent of people of European descent have two copies of the mutated CCR5 gene. The Toronto patient received myeloablation or myeloablative conditioning using high-dose chemotherapy or total body radiation treatment.

U.S. Bone marrow donation registries. This treatment costs around $300,000 in Canada. One treatment option offered in Ontario costs about $1,400 a month.

Dr. Sharon Walmsley was a medical intern during the early years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. She said she used to spend every night sitting on someone's bed watching them die during the early HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Walmsley recalled the palpable sense of fear in the hospital and said having to tell patients they were dying almost made her give up on medicine. Numerous studies estimate that between 10 and 20 per cent of bone marrow transplant patients die from complications related to the procedure.

U.S. National Institutes of Health suggests the mortality rate for bone marrow transplants is now on the lower end of the 10-20 per cent scale. Walmsley warned this type of treatment is not recommended for the vast majority of HIV patients because bone marrow transplants and chemotherapy are invasive and carry risk. More than 65,000 Canadians are living with HIV.

Eighty-five per cent of Canadians living with HIV are diagnosed and receiving treatment, according to the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange. 5 times higher HIV rate than the rest of Canada. Manitoba has the highest rates of HIV in Canada, Dr.

Brent Roussin said. Arts said he is happy Canada has achieved this milestone but wants to see HIV solutions developed that are less costly and less complicated. He noted it is not something that is easily adopted around the world in low-income settings where the burden of HIV is greatest.

Walmsley said she hopes the case helps scientists find less invasive ways to eliminate the virus or prevent it from entering cells. Adam Castillejo was diagnosed with HIV in 2003 at age 29. He is known as the “London patient” and is the second person in the world considered to be cured of HIV.

Castillejo welcomed the Toronto patient to the small group of people cured of HIV and urged others to stay hopeful because scientists are working around the clock to find a cure that is feasible for everybody. Cbc reported that antiretroviral treatments remain incredibly safe, effective and widely available in Canada.

The perfect storm of circumstances required to qualify for the bone marrow procedure — HIV, blood cancer and a matching donor with the delta-32 mutation — means it will benefit only a few patients.