New Delhi: Believed to be the third person in the world and first woman, a US patient has reportedy been cured of HIV virus. The patient was suffering from leukaemia when she received a stem cell transplant from a person with natural resistance to the Aids-causing virus. Currently, the woman is free from the virus and has been 14 months to date.
Experts stated that the treatment method included umbilical cord blood, which is a risky treatment and might not suit most patients having HIV. The concerned patient’s case was presented at a medical conference in Denver on Tuesday.
This is the first time this method has been used as a functional cure for HIV.
The patient underwent a transplant of the umbilical cord blood as part of her cancer treatment and from then was not required to take antiretroviral therapy needed for the treatment of HIV.
The case registered to be part of a major US study of people living with HIV who had received the same type of blood transplant to treat cancer and other serious diseases. The transplanted cells which were selected have a specific genetic mutation which means they can’t be infected with HIV. According to scientists, the immune system of the recipients can develop resistance to HIV as a result.
Notably, the potential of stem cell transplants was demonstrated in 2007 with Timothy Ray Brown was the first person to be cured of HIV. He underwent a transplant from a donor who was naturally resistant to HIV. Since then, the method has been used upon two patients namely Adam Castillejo and now the New York patient.
All three of them suffered from cancer and needed a stem cell transplant to save their lives. This patient’s treatment had umbilical cord blood, unlike the other two where patients received adult stem cells as a part of a bone marrow transplant. Umbilical cord blood is more available than the adult stem cells previously used. Besides, it does not require a close match between donor and recipient.
