Patient May Be Second Person to Be Cured of HIV

A man with HIV from London received a stem-cell transplant from a donor who was genetically resistant to HIV. Extensive testing now shows he has no detectable amounts of HIV. He has been off antiretroviral drugs for around 20 months. This finding advances the search for a cure to HIV. Ravindra Gupta, who lead the study, said he and the research team said that the individual is in remission and that it is too early to say he has been cured.

The man could become the second patient cured of HIV if he continues to remain free of the virus. However, the approach can't be applied to the millions of other people living with HIV due to risk and cost. Both men cured of HIV had diseases that warranted stem-cell transplants: the first person cured Timothy Brown had leukemia and needed a transplant; the "London patient" had Hodgkin lymphoma. They both received transplants from donors who had two copies of the gene mutation CCR5, which is used by HIV strains to gain entry to the immune-system cells.


Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/london-man-may-be-cured-of-hiv-after-stem-cell-transplant-researchers-say-11551746867

-- Caroline Aung