A fourth person has been cured of HIV, doctors say.

The patient, who is aged 66 and wishes to remain anonymous, was cured of the virus by coincidence after he received a stem cell transplant to treat his leukaemia.

Three-and-a-half years ago, doctors decided they needed to replace his cancerous blood cells with a donor’s – who happened to be resistant to HIV.

The man, who is being referred to as the “City of Hope” patient after the California medical facility he was treated at, has now been in remission from both blood cancer and HIV for 17 months.

He said in a statement: “When I was diagnosed with HIV in 1988, like many others, I thought it was a death sentence.

“I never thought I would live to see the day that I no longer have HIV.”

He is the oldest patient – one of four so far – believed to have been cured in this way.

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The first was the “Berlin patient” Timothy Ray Brown in 2007.

Earlier this year, doctors in New York reported they had cured the first woman of HIV in the same way.

President-elect of the International Aids Society (IAS) described the cure as the “holy grail” and claimed it offers “continued hope and inspiration” for people living with HIV.

Scientists believe it works because non-HIV positive donors do not have the receptors used by HIV to infect cells.

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