aidsmap news story
Several presentations at CROI 2026 provided hope for the development of therapeutic vaccinations as well as T-cell and antibody therapies that could lead to long-term control or even a cure for HIV.
It had been thought that HIV infection, especially long-term infection, exhausts the immune cells that normally fight infections, leading to a state of immune ‘senescence’ (premature ageing) and long-term, low-level inflammation.
It’s been assumed that even in people who maintained viral suppression for decades, this state of ongoing immune dysregulation was the primary driver of the relatively higher levels of cardiovascular disease, non-AIDS-related cancers, and neurodegenerative disorders seen in people with HIV.
In the last few years, however, it has become apparent that at least some of HIV’s long-term survivors – people who have been on antiretroviral therapy for 20 years or more – have an immune system that’s better placed to continue fighting HIV than was thought.
Read the full news story here.CROI 2026: Full coverage
