Advancing Toward a Human Immunodeficiency Virus Cure Initial Progress on a Difficult Path

Eradication of infection in PWH is a cherished optimal goal, but it is still far from being practically achievable. In the fifth decade of the AIDS pandemic, huge advances have been made in clinical care and prevention methods, but a cure or effective vaccine not at hand. However, we mark more than 10 years of scientific effort refocused toward the goal of viral eradication, and this has yielded a better understanding of the many mechanisms of viral persistence and expanding tools to measure persistence and test therapies. Efforts to disrupt latency and target reservoirs for clearance are advancing toward clinical testing. Like many of the most challenging problems facing society, the response to the HIV pandemic must be multifaceted. Among the many important goals for future research is the development of temporally contained therapies capable of eradicating HIV infection. A paradigm for this effort is found in the decades-long effort in searching for a "cure" for cancer. Our progress made so far in deciphering HIV pathogenesis and developing treatment strategies gives hope that eradication of established HIV infection is an attainable goal if we maintain persistent effort against a persistent pathogen.