Patient Allegedly Cured of HIV via Stem Cell Transplant

Since the first case of HIV that was documented in June 1981, medical experts, researchers, and scientist across the globe have been on the hunt to further understand HIV and find a cure for it. On February 15, the New York Times alleged that a patient was cured of HIV via stem cell transplant.

Stem cell  transplant specialist Dr. Koen Van Besien, Dr. Jingmei Hsu, and infectious disease specialist Dr. Marshall Glesby conducted a medical trial at Weill Cornell Medicine that has potentially cured a patient of HIV.

Weill Cornell reported the patient living with HIV received a blood stem cell transplant for “high risk acute acute myeloid leukemia has been free of the virus for 14 months after stopping HIV antiretroviral drug treatment, suggesting a cure, according to the Weill Cornell Medicine physician-scientists who performed the transplant and managed her care.”

There have been two other documented cases where patents who have received the stem cell transplant treatment were also cured of the HIV virus.

The recent case of the long-term HIV remission was reported February 15 at the 29th annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

Cornell states, “The patient received transplants of blood- and immune-cell replenishing stem cells after having her own blood cell population, including leukemic cells, destroyed by high-dose chemotherapy.”

Cornell continues by mentioning the two transplant sources originated from a “healthy adult relative” and a “umbilical cord from unrelated new born child.”

The stem cells were used to restore her blood cell population rapidly to reduce “infections complications.” The umbilical cord establishes long term blood reconstitution.

Specialist mention that cord blood is utilized for stem cell transplants when patients are unsuccessful finding adult match donors. Recipients can find a positive match even if the donor is a partial match.

Specifically with this patient, about three months after the transplant, the test showed that the “patient’s blood cell population was entirely derived from the HIV-resistant cord blood cells.” The leaders of this medical study discovered post transplant studies couldn’t detect HIV by various methods.

Soon after the patient stopped taking antiviral drugs for HIV and has been off of the HIV drugs for 14 months—with no signs of HIV coming back.

However, it’s too early for doctors to claim an 100 percent cure for HIV; they refer to the case cure as “long term remission.” Also, the physicians state that “the patient has been leukemia-free for more than four years.”

Researchers are still working tremendously hard to understand the unlimited and untapped possibilities that stem cell transplants can have on the human body. Here’s their final thoughts on the progress towards the cure:

“These are newborns; they are more adaptable,” Dr. Koen Van Besien says.

“Umbilical stem cells are attractive,” Dr. Deeks says. “There’s something magical about these cells and something magical, perhaps, about the cord blood in general that provides an extra benefit.”