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Stem cell transplant ‘cures’ HIV: study
"Our results strongly suggest that cure of HIV has been achieved in this patient,"
- Study
A US cancer patient who received a stem cell transplant has been cured of HIV, said a team of German doctors whose research was published in the peer-reviewed journal Blood on Wednesday.
The results suggest the first such cure for the virus that causes AIDS, though experts caution it may not be safe or feasible for the wider population.
The subject of the study, an American in his 40s who is often referred to as the "Berlin patient," received a stem cell transplant as treatment for acute myeloid leukemia in 2007.
The stem cells came from a donor with a rare gene mutation that makes it impossible to contract HIV.
The study showed no sign of HIV more than two years after the transplant, even though the patient had ceased anti-retroviral therapy to suppress HIV.