Scientists searching for a HIV cure are close to a breakthrough while (pictured, HIV under the microscope)

The search for a HIV cure is close to a breakthrough as a British man suffering from the virus shows 'remarkable' progress after treatment.

Scientists treating the 44-year-old patient are hopeful of him being cured of the fatal disease as he takes part in a medical trial described as 'one of the first serious attempts at a full cure for HIV'.

Research teams from five of Britain's leading universities have collaborated with the NHS to launch the project, which involves 50 people completing a trial.

Then man is the first to take part and told the Sunday Times that recent blood tests showed that no detectable HIV virus was present, although it was too early to confirm that the treatment had worked.

Mark Samuels, managing director of the National Institute for Health Research Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure, told the Sunday Times: 'This is one of the first serious attempts at a full cure for HIV. We are exploring the real possibility of curing HIV.

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'This is a huge challenge and it's still early days but the progress has been remarkable.'

The new therapy uses to a two-stage attack on the virus and aims to overcome a major barrier to clearing HIV from a sufferer's body - something that has challenged researchers for decades.

Current methods using antiretroviral therapies (Art) fall short of ridding patients of HIV, as the virus can hide out of the drugs' reach in the immune system's T-cells.

By sheltering in dormant T-cells the virus can later take over its host and use it to produce thousands of copies of itself, should Art no longer work.

Research teams from five of Britain's leading universities have collaborated with the NHS to launch the project, which involves 50 people completing a trial (file photo)

The research by Oxford and Cambridge universities, Imperial College London, University College London, and King's College London, is testing a 'kick and kill' technique to first expose then destroy the virus.

First a vaccine helps the body find infected T-cells. This is then followed by a course of the drug Vorinostat that awakens the dormant T-cells, which then begin producing HIV proteins that act as a homing beacon to the immune system.

Imperial College London consultant physician Professor Sarah Fidler said the treatment worked in the laboratory and there was 'good evidence' it will work in patients.