(DailyFix.org) – In the 1980s and 1990s, people believed contracting HIV leading to AIDS was a death sentence. In time, treatments advanced, and the virus and resulting syndrome were no longer as fatal. The most recent developments are even more exciting because they point to a potential cure.

A woman in the US became the third person to hear she no longer had HIV. The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, has been free of any detectable virus for 14 months after receiving a stem cell transplant for leukemia. The cells, which came from umbilical cord blood, had a natural resistance to HIV.

The New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center revealed the case on February 15 at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. The patient was the first to receive this specific treatment. Researchers think the umbilical cord stem cells can better fight the virus than those harvested from adults.

Compared to the other two people who also found a cure, this case is unique. The female patient didn’t suffer infections or other complications, which the other two patients, who received adult stem cells, did. The procedure also cured her cancer.

Doctors estimate about 50 people a year could use this procedure to eliminate HIV from their bodies.