Does earlier HIV RNA suppression provide long-term benefits?

In the ARTEMIS and TITAN trials of protease inhibitor-based HAART, patients with earlier HIV RNA suppression (HIV RNA <50 copies/ml less than 12 weeks after starting antiretrovirals) had similar rates of long-term HIV RNA undetectability to patients with later HIV RNA suppression (HIV RNA <50 copies/ml after 12-24 weeks). Analyses of seven other large clinical trials also show no consistent correlations between the early dynamics of HIV RNA decline and long-term virological suppression.