Stem cell transplant cures HIV in man

Berlin, February 12: Stem cell transplantation in a 42-year-old HIVdefine patient with leukemia has wiped out the virus from his body, the doctor of Berlin Charité Hospital confirms.

"The patient is fine," said Dr. Gero Hutter, a haematologist at the Berlin Charité Hospital. "Today, two years after his transplantation, he is still without any signs of HIVdefine disease and without antiretroviral medication."

The doctor observed that using the stem cells from a donor who carries a unique gene mutation i.e. delta 32 ccr5 along with a tissue match, could now cure the patient from the HIV virus. Delta 32 ccr5 makes the cells resistant to HIV virus and this mutation is found in a little more than 1 percent of Caucasians.

Dr. Hutter told, “When the recipient got the new bone marrow, his cells could now block out the HIV, and, in effect, he was cured. Bone marrow transplants are high risk, so only lymphoma and leukemia patients take the risk to possibly cure their cancerdefine.”

The recipient runs a holiday business in the German Capital. He had been treated with many antiretroviral drugs for HIV. But he developed leukaemia and two years ago his bone marrow was transplanted.
“He has not taken antiretroviral drugs to control HIV and has had no resurgence of either disease. When I started in medicine, HIV was completely untreatable. Now the situation has changed completely. Perhaps our case is a glimpse of hope for the future", Dr. Hutter added.

Dr. Jeffrey Laurence, a leading AIDS researcher said, “This person, now over two years, has no evidence of HIV anywhere in his body. This new Experiment will open a new door to brand new scientific approaches to battling the virus. You always have to start in one place, with one patient and see how we can do it for other people.”

The study is published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.