This painful and risky procedure is reserved for people with HIV and aggressive leukemia, so it is not an option for all of the approximately 40 million people living with the deadly virus worldwide.
The German man, who asked to remain anonymous, is the seventh person in the world to be cured of HIV.
The patient has been dubbed the “next Berlin patient,” a name previously given to Timothy Ray Brown, who was the first person to be declared cured of HIV in 2008 but died of cancer in 2020.
The unidentified 60-year-old German man was first diagnosed with HIV in 2009.
He was suffering from acute myeloid leukemia when he underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat the leukemia in 2015. The procedure, which carries a 10 percent risk of death, essentially replaces a person’s immune system.
He then stopped taking antiretroviral drugs, which prevent HIV from replicating, in September 2018.
Doctors said that following regarding six years of the procedure, he appears to be free of HIV and cancer.
Dr. Christian Gabler, a physician and scientist at Charité University Medical Center in Berlin, is scheduled to present the case next week at the 25th International AIDS Conference.
Gabler explained that the team cannot be “absolutely certain” that all traces of HIV have been eliminated, noting that “the patient’s condition is very suggestive of a cure for HIV. He feels great and is excited to contribute to our research efforts.”
At a press conference last week, Sharon Lewin, president of the International AIDS Society, cautioned once morest using the word “cure.”
However, she said that staying in remission (a state of no disease activity in a patient who is known to have a chronic, incurable disease) for more than five years means he will be “close” to recovery.
She noted that there is a major difference between the German man’s case and most other cases that have reached a long-term recovery stage.
Five of the other six patients received stem cells from donors who had two copies of a rare genetic mutation (where part of the CCR5 gene was missing) that prevents HIV from replicating.
While the German patient is the first to receive stem cells from a donor who inherited only one copy of the mutated CCR5 gene. He had a copy of the gene himself.
About 15% of people of European descent have one mutated copy of the defective gene, compared to 1% who have two copies of the gene.
The researchers hope that their recent success with the “next Berlin patient” means there will be a much larger pool of potential donors in the future.
Previous cases of HIV “cure”
– Timothy Ray Brown, also known as the “Berlin Patient,” was the first person to be cured of HIV. He underwent two stem cell transplants in 2007 and 2008. But his leukemia returned and caused his death in September 2020 at the age of 54.
Adam Castillejo, also known as the “London Patient,” received a bone marrow transplant to treat his lymphoma in 2016. He is in his mid-40s.
– Mark Franke, the so-called “Düsseldorf patient,” underwent a stem cell transplant in 2013 to treat his leukaemia. The 55-year-old stopped antiretroviral therapy in 2018 and was declared cured last year.
– Paul Edmonds, also known as the “City of Hope Patient,” underwent a stem cell transplant in February 2019 and was declared HIV-free.
The “New York patient,” the first woman and person of mixed heritage to be cured, received a stem cell transplant in 2017 to treat leukemia.
The “Geneva Patient,” a man from Switzerland, was cured of HIV following undergoing a stem cell transplant in 2018 to treat leukemia.
Source: New York Post
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2024-07-22 06:45:00
