HIV Returns in Men Thought Cured

Had stem cell transplants

Two HIV-infected men who were thought to be clear of the virus after having stem cell transplants have had the AIDS-causing pathogen return, their doctors said, scuppering hopes their cases might lead to a cure.

The two Boston men, who were also suffering from lymphoma, had no trace of the virus eight months after the transplants, researchers led by Timothy Henrich at Brigham and Women's Hospital said in July, though they said it was too early to say the men had been cured. The virus reappeared in one of the men in August and in the other in November, Henrich said in astatement after presenting the results at an AIDS meeting in Florida yesterday.