Fifth person confirmed to be cured of HIV after stem cell transplant: researchers

A  man has been cured of HIV following a stem cell transplant that was performed after several rounds of chemotherapy, said German researchers on Tuesday. This man would be the fifth known case of the virus being cured in an individual, reported The Hill. German researchers have shared the case in detail and published the study of a 53-year-old patient, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2008, in the Nature science journal. After the diagnosis, the patient has gone through antiretroviral therapy (ART) which is known for suppressing the viral load within their system. 

Another HIV case cured? 

According to the media reports, the patient was enrolled in the University Hospital Düsseldorf’s IciStem programme, which is known for exploring potential HIV cures requiring stem cell transplants. After three years of being diagnosed with HIV, the patient also found symptoms of acute myeloid leukemia. Remission of their cancer was achieved through an initial round of chemotherapy but was followed by a relapse shortly after, as per the reports shared by the German researchers. In this cancer treatment, the patient receives a stem cell transplant from a female donor with whom they matched which took place after two years after their cancer diagnosis and five years after being diagnosed with HIV. Further, the female donor had a mutation that is considered important to resist HIV infection. 

The therapy, ART has continued throughout the treatments for cancer, and HIV levels have been reduced, followed by undetectable in the patient. Further, tests were conducted to take note of the traces of a virus capable of replicating and infecting cells. In 2018, after ten years, the ART was discontinued, and have displayed any symptoms of HIV. These live-saving findings first came forward in 2019 by the patient’s physician, Björn-Erik Ole Jensen, reported The Hill. The first patient believed to be cured of HIV, named Timothy Ray Brown, had received the same kind of transplant as the Düsseldorf patient in 2007 to treat his leukemia. Last year, a woman had been cured of HIV also through the use of a stem cell transplant, with these cells harvested from umbilical cord blood.