BoneMarrow Transplant Cures AIDS Patient?
LifeScript Health News) A bone-marrow transplant seems to have cured a man of AIDS, according a Wall Street Journal report. The 42-year-old American, living in Berlin, is recovering from his leukemia therapy, but he appears to have won his battle with AIDS, almost 2 years after his bone-marrow transplant.
He received the transplant from a donor who had a naturally occurring genetic mutation (CCR5 delta 32) that forms an immunity to almost all strains of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. (This mutation is found in about 1% of Europeans, and even higher in northern Europe, who receive the mutation from both parents.)
The transplant patient is "functionally cured," but scientists are continuing to study the potential ramifications: Blocking CCR5 might have side effects, and the transplant treatments themselves kill up to 30% of patients. The case may prove helpful, though, to those who are researching gene therapy and testing different approaches to treating AIDS.
has anybody heard about this
and is it true i just read it
- Mariel
i wish you could be more specific in citing the article. what sounds odd to me is that with the antiviral medication available now, i cant imagine anyone electing that kind of risk. your genetics references are interesting but would probably be in the public domain as a really big deal. ive never heard of anything like that.
- COUNTRY--GIRL
Yes this can happen have to find a donor who has same bone marrow type so you can have there bone marrow and get a transplant and this has been done its very expensive and does take some time to achieve as well.Read this as well. If this was in the WSJ they have source's that do check up on issues and only print what are facts so believe it!
- TweetyBird
I came across this about two months ago and while it's true that the HIV appears to been halted, the outcome is still inconclusive and further testing and monitoring needs to be done. It was also said that this is not necessarily a treatment for everyone with HIV infection, not everyone is a suitable candidate but it opens the doors to new possibilties. Whether or not this experimental therapy is a success depends on longitudinal studies.
- LINDA R
Yes, I have heard about it. It sounds like great news, but remember, it is only one patient. Further monitoring and testing needs to be done with this patient, and the success of this patient (if it continues) needs to be duplicated in MANY other patients before bone marrow transplant can actually be considered a valid cure for HIV.
There are concerns about the cost and safety of using this treatment to treat (or cure, if that is really the case) HIV patients.
All of that said, it is still encouraging. I hope this news can lead to improvements in treatment of HIV.
- midnightmoon62
I have heard about it and it is true. Because of the way the transplant works, it has always been known that it is a possibility for this to happen. In fact, the transplant actually can remove several viruses from the body. I have to retake all my childhood immunizations and am no longer positive for cmv or hsv1 (two viruses that almost everyone has). It isnt reliable though. I remained positive for the chicken pox virus after my transplant.
The removal of the HIV virus works because of a specific genetic mutation of the donor.
It is important to remember though that bone marrow transplants are incredably risky and phenominally expensive proceedures. The only reason this mad had one was to treat his leukemia. Even if they can make this reliable, it would not be feasible to treat all hiv/aids patients with the transplant.
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