A 60-year-old German man is likely the seventh person to be effectively cured from HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant, doctors announced on Thursday.

A 60-year-old German man with HIV, nicknamed the “next Berlin patient,” appears to be cured after receiving a bone marrow transplant for leukemia. This is a significant development because:

It’s the 7th reported case of HIV cure globally, but the 1st where the donor lacked a specific genetic mutation previously thought essential. This broadens the potential donor pool for future treatments. The man’s remission lasted nearly 6 years after stopping HIV medication, which is highly suggestive of a cure. However, there are limitations:

The bone marrow transplant procedure is high-risk and not suitable for most HIV patients. Researchers aren’t 100% certain all traces of HIV are gone, but the patient feels well and is contributing to research. Overall, this case offers promise for a wider HIV cure in the future, potentially without requiring the specific genetic mutation in donors.

  • deltapi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    16·
    4 months ago

    This method is literally killing the patient’s entire immune system by irradiation. They then replace it with a donor immune system that might in turn try to kill them.

    This isn’t a good option for the vast majority of patients to wipe out a virus that can be well managed with drugs.

    The reason that it was done here is that the treatment is intended to cure them of cancer, and as a side effect eliminates their HIV infection.