Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) induces durable suppression of virus replication but is unable to eradicate HIV. Invariably, virus rebound follows treatment interruption and life-long cART is thus required. Advances have been made in our understanding of HIV latency, identification of HIV cell reservoirs, regulation of HIV-specific immune responses, as well as in the development of broad neutralizing antibodies and putative therapeutic vaccines. These have provided a scientific basis to explore alternative strategies that achieve durable suppression of viremia in the absence of cART, the so-called functional cure. Single intervention strategies have shown promise, albeit with limited efficacy. Consequently, a combination of interventions aiming to stimulate the immune response and prevent new rounds of viral infection and spreading may render the HIV functional cure a feasible goal.

联合抗逆转录病毒疗法（cART）可以持久抑制病毒复制，但无法根除HIV。病毒反弹总是伴随着治疗中断，因此需要终生的cART。在我们对HIV潜伏期的了解，HIV细胞库的鉴定，HIV特异性免疫反应的调节以及广泛的中和抗体和推定的治疗性疫苗的开发方面，已经取得了进展。这些为探索替代策略提供了科学依据，这些策略可在不存在cART（所谓的功能性治愈）的情况下实现对病毒血症的持久抑制。尽管疗效有限，但单一干预策略已显示出希望。所以，