- James Gallagher
- Health and Science Correspondent, BBC News
image sources, Getty Images
The patient was diagnosed with HIV in the 1980s.
A man who had been living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) since the 1980s has been cured, his doctors have announced.
To treat the leukemiathe patient received a bone marrow transplant from a donor naturally resistant to the virus.
The 66-year-old man, who prefers not to be identified, has stopped taking anti-HIV drugs. This is the fourth such case reported by scientists.
The patient says he is “more than grateful“that the virus is no longer in your body.
The man received medical treatment at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Treatment Center in Duarte, California.
Many of his friends died of HIV before the drugs antiretrovirals could offer patients a near-normal life expectancy.
“I no longer have HIV”
HIV damages the immune system. This can cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (As) because the body has trouble fighting infections.
image sources, Getty Images
HIV enters white blood cells through a protein called CCR5.
“When I was diagnosed with HIV in 1988, like many others, I thought it was a death warrant. I never thought I would live to see the day when I was HIV free,” the man said in a statement.
However, he did not receive this therapy because of HIV, but to treat the leukemia he suffers from. from 63 years old.
The medical team decided that the patient needed a bone marrow transplant to replace his cancerous blood cells. Coincidentally, the donor was HIV resistant.
The virus enters white blood cells body through a microscopic door: a protein called CCR5.
However, some people, including the donor, have mutations of CCR5 that close the door and prevent the entry of HIV.
The cure is always the “santo grial”
The patient was closely monitored after transplant and HIV levels went undetectable in his body.
has been in remission since over 17 months.
“We are delighted to inform you that HIV is in delivery and that she no longer needs to take the antiretroviral therapy she has been on for over 30 years,” said Dr Jana Dickter, infectious disease specialist at City of Hope.
This first happened in 2011, when Timothy Ray Brown, known as “sick of Berlin“, became the first person in the world to be cured of HIV. Brown ended up dying of cancer in September 2020.
image sources, Javier Zayas Photography
Patient stopped receiving antiretrovirals
There have already been three similar cases in the last three years.
The City of Hope patient is the oldest to receive this treatment and the one living the longest with HIV.
However, bone marrow transplants will not revolutionize HIV treatment for the 38 million people infected worldwide.
“It’s a complex procedure with significant potential side effects. So it’s actually not a suitable option for most people living with HIV,” Dickter explained.
However, researchers are looking for ways to target front door CCR5through gene therapy as a potential treatment.
The case was reported to the conference Aid 2022 in Montreal, Canada.
“The remedy is always santo ghiv research rial“said Professor Sharon Lewin, president-elect of the International AIDS Society.
Lewin recalled that there had been “a handful of individual cases of recovery before”, which provided “continuing hope for people living with HIV and inspiration for the scientific community”.
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