Experts say the transplant method used in the woman’s case is not suitable for most people living with HIV
Scientists have said that an American patient is the “first woman” in the world to recover from HIV, and she is the third person to recover from the disease.
The patient was being treated for leukemia when she underwent a stem cell transplant from a person with natural resistance to the virus that causes AIDS.
Doctors did not detect the virus in the woman for 14 months.
However, experts say the transplant method used, which includes umbilical cord blood, is too risky and not suitable for most people with HIV.
The patient’s case was presented at a medical conference in Denver, Colorado, on Tuesday, the first time the method has been known to be used as a functional HIV treatment.
The patient underwent a cord blood transplant as part of her cancer treatment, and since then has not required antiretroviral therapy for HIV.
The patient’s case is part of a larger US study of people living with HIV, who underwent the same type of blood transplant to treat cancer and serious diseases.
The selected transplanted cells contain a specific genetic mutation, which means they cannot be infected with HIV.
Scientists believe the recipient patient’s immune system might develop resistance to HIV as a result.
The woman’s treatment included umbilical cord blood, in contrast to the two previous recoveries, in which the two patients underwent adult stem cell transplants as part of marrow transplants.
Cord blood is more widely available compared to previously used adult stem cells, and a close match between donor and recipient is not required.
And Sharon Lewin, president-elect of the International Society for AIDS Control, warned that the transplant method used in this case would not be a feasible cure for most people living with HIV.
But, she added, the case “confirms that a cure for HIV is feasible, and the method further promotes the use of gene therapy as a viable HIV treatment strategy.”
The results of the latest case study have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, so scientific understanding is still limited.
