Gene-based immunotherapy for human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

More than 40 million people are infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and a successful vaccine is at least a decade away. Although highly active antiretroviral therapy prolongs life, the maintenance of viral latency requires life-long treatment and results in cumulative toxicities and viral escape mutants. Gene therapy offers the promise to cure or prevent progressive HIV infection by interfering with HIV replication and CD4(+) cell decline long term in the absence of chronic chemotherapy, and approximately 2 million HIV-infected individuals live in settings where there is sufficient infrastructure to support its application with current technology. Although the development of HIV/AIDS gene therapy has been slow, progress in a number of areas is evident, so that studies to date have significantly advanced the field of gene-based immunotherapy. Advances have helped to define a series of ongoing and planned trials that may shed light on potential mechanisms for the successful clinical gene therapy of HIV.