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Dr. Sharon Walmsley is the Director of the HIV Clinic at Toronto General Hospital and the Speck Family Chair in Emerging Infectious Diseases. (Submitted by Sharon Walmsley)<\/p>\nLISTEN | Doctor says patient’s HIV journey adds to hope for cure:<\/p>\n
As It Happens6:38A Toronto man is on course to be cured of HIV. His doctor hopes more research leads to a cure for all<\/p>\n
Dr. Sharon Walmsley was a medical intern during the early years of the HIV\/AIDs epidemic in the \u201880s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to spend every night sitting on someone’s bed watching them die,\u201d she said, recalling the palpable sense of fear in the hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Having to tell patients they were dying \u2014 to tell their parents they would lose their child \u2014 almost made her give up on medicine, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, she\u2019s now at the forefront of new treatment and research as the director of the HIV\/AIDS clinic at Toronto General Hospital, where one of her patients is in remission and on track to become the first Canadian to be cured of HIV. The patient doesn’t want to disclose his identity publicly, Walmsley told CBC Radio.<\/p>\n
Known as the \u201cToronto patient,\u201d the 62-year-old man was diagnosed with HIV in 1999 and started antiretroviral therapy to suppress his virus levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2021, he developed life-threatening blood cancer that required chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant \u2014 making him a rare candidate for an expensive and risky treatment that is considered to have cured between five and 10 others worldwide of HIV. <\/p>\n
Though it\u2019s hailed as a significant treatment advancement, the perfect storm of circumstances that must collide to qualify for it \u2014 developing HIV and blood cancer and matching with one of the very limited number of bone marrow donors who have an exceptional genetic mutation \u2014 make it something that will benefit only a few.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Sharon Walmsley is the Director of the HIV Clinic at Toronto General Hospital and the Speck Family Chair in Emerging Infectious Diseases. (Submitted by Sharon Walmsley)<\/p>\n
But this case, and those like it, have sparked hope that it could be the catalyst from which a broader cure can be created.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the Toronto patient, it meant \u201cnot only has he survived this cancer, but now he appears to have eradicated his HIV,\u201d Walmsley said.<\/p>\n
He stopped taking antiretroviral therapy in 2025 and as of April 2026, his HIV levels were undetectable. If things continue like this for roughly another 20 months, he\u2019ll be considered cured.<\/p>\n
While there\u2019s no \u201cmagic number\u201d of years that define when a patient is free of HIV, Walmsley said, \u201cif you go out to three years, some mathematical modelling suggests that you\u2019re probably cured at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Complications finding a cure<\/p>\n
Walmsley said her patient\u2019s apparent recovery marks an incredible achievement but warns this type of treatment is not recommended for the vast majority of HIV patients.<\/p>\n
Bone marrow transplants and chemotherapy are invasive and carry risk, Walmsley said. Numerous studies estimate that between 10 and 20 per cent of bone marrow transplant patients die from complications related to the procedure, though more recent research <\/a>funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health suggests the mortality rate is now on the lower end of that scale. Meanwhile, antiretroviral treatments are incredibly safe, effective and widely available in Canada.<\/p>\n It is only this rare combination of a patient with HIV and blood cancer who creates a unique opportunity to try this type of treatment, says microbiology and immunology professor Eric Arts.<\/p>\n WATCH | The ‘Toronto patient’ on track to being cured of HIV: Toronto man poised to become 1st Canadian cured of HIV | Hanomansing Tonight<\/p>\n A 62-year-old man is poised to become the first person in Canada to be cured of HIV. Ten patients worldwide are considered cured after following similar procedures. The case was led by Dr. Sharon Walmsley, director of the immunodeficiency clinic at the University Health Network.<\/p>\n In the Toronto patient\u2019s case, he received donor cells containing a rare genetic mutation called \u201cdelta-32\u201d in the CCR5 gene. The mutation prevents immune cells from creating the receptor protein that makes them vulnerable to HIV.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then, his immune system was eradicated through a process called myeloablation or myeloablative conditioning, which uses high-dose chemotherapy or total body radiation treatment to destroy bone marrow cells.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou get rid of all of their immune cells, and you transplant them with these stem cells that\u00a0 reconstitutes, redevelops their immune system,\u201d Arts said.\u00a0<\/p>\n For someone living with HIV and a blood cancer, giving them virus-resistant cells is the only treatment option for both conditions, but it\u2019s not a method a healthy HIV patient would be offered because of the risks involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n This particular treatment is rare not only because of the risks to the patient but also, Arts said, because only one to two per cent of people of European descent have two copies of the mutated CCR5 gene<\/a>. Once donors are identified, their cells must be transported quickly to the matching recipient for the transplant to be successful, all of which adds to the complexity.<\/p>\n The donor for the Toronto patient was found using German and U.S. bone marrow donation registries. Canada currently doesn\u2019t have such a registry, something Walmsley said she hopes will be developed.<\/p>\n Finding more effective ways to fight HIV<\/p>\n Though this targeted treatment would not work \u2014 or be available \u2014 for many, Walmsley said, she hopes it helps scientists to find less invasive ways to eliminate the virus or prevent it from entering cells.<\/p>\n \u201cIs it immunotherapy? Is it a gene therapy? Is it drugs? I think we have to investigate all of these different pathways,\u201d she said, referring to building upon future treatment options.\u00a0<\/p>\n LISTEN | What a cure means to a patient:<\/p>\n The Current17:28What does it mean to be cured of HIV? <\/p>\n Arts says he\u2019s happy Canada has achieved this milestone but wants to see HIV solutions developed that are less costly and less complicated.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s not something that’s easily adopted, certainly not around the world, in low income settings, where the burden of HIV is the greatest,\u201d Arts said.\u00a0<\/p>\n This treatment costs around $300,000 in Canada, according to Arts and other research. That includes finding a donor, getting the transplant, the costs of being in hospital and for extended care.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778319848_119_default.jpg\")
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Eric Arts is a professor of microbiology and immunology at Western University. He’s also the Canada Research Chair in HIV pathogenesis and viral control. (Submitted by Eric Arts)<\/p>\n