The first man to be cured of HIV is now dying of cancer.
Timothy Ray Brown learnt he had HIV in the 1990s and in 2006 he was diagnosed with leukaemia.
Brown received a marrow transplant from a donor with a natural resistance to the AIDS virus - for years, it was thought to have cured his leukaemia and his HIV infection.
While he still shows no signs of HIV, his cancer has returned. Brown told Associated Press that it returned last year and has now spread throughout his body.
He is now receiving hospice care in Palm Springs, California.
Brown's leukaemia diagnosis is what prompted him to seek treatment which led to his transplant 12 years ago.
"[The transplant] opened up doors that weren't there before and inspired scientists to work harder to find a cure, which many had begun to think was not possible," the 54-year-old said Thursday.
Brown's first transplant in 2007 was only partly successful. His HIV was gone but his leukemia was not. He had a second transplant from the same donor in March 2008 and that one seemed to work.
AIDS specialist Dr Steve Deeks said Brown is an "inspiration".
"Timothy proved that HIV can be cured, but that's not what inspires me about him," he told Associated Press.
"We took pieces of his gut, we took pieces of his lymph nodes. Every time he was asked to do something, he showed up with amazing grace."
