German researchers report that a man has been cured of HIV after a stem cell transplant performed after several rounds of chemotherapy. This makes it the fifth known case of a cure from the virus in an individual.
In a study published in the scientific journal NatureGerman researchers detailed the case of a 53-year-old patient diagnosed with HIV in 2008. Following his diagnosis, he was placed on antiretroviral therapy, which suppressed the viral load within his system.
The patient enrolled in a program at Düsseldorf University Hospital, which explores possible cures for HIV from stem cell transplants.
He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia about three years after he was diagnosed with HIV. Remission of his cancer was achieved through an initial round of chemotherapy, but a relapse followed shortly thereafter.
During treatment for his cancer, he received a stem cell transplant. The event occurred approximately two years after the cancer diagnosis and five years after being diagnosed with HIV.
The donor had a mutation thought to confer resistance to HIV infection.
According to the researchers, HIV levels remained largely undetectable in the patient, except in “sporadic” cases.
Testing of the patient after treatment failed to find traces of virus capable of replicating and infecting cells.
Björn-Erik Ole Jensen, his doctor, first presented these findings in 2019, though he declined to say the man was in remission at the time because he felt it was too soon.
In 2007 Timothy Ray Brownthe first patient to be cured of HIV, received the same type of transplant as the Düsseldorf patient to treat his leukaemia.
Last year it was reported that a woman had also been cured of HIV by using a stem cell transplant with cells taken from umbilical cord blood.
