In a groundbreaking medical development, a 60-year-old man in Germany appears to have been cured of HIV after undergoing a stem cell transplant. This remarkable case was announced just ahead of the International AIDS Conference, set to take place next week in Munich.
A Historic milestone
This case marks the seventh instance globally of an individual being considered cured of HIV, highlighting a significant advancement in the fight against a virus that affects approximately 39 million people worldwide.
Unique case dynamics
What sets this case apart is that the stem cell donor was not immune to HIV. Professor Christian Gaebler, an HIV expert from Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, described the outcome as unprecedented in the history of HIV treatment.
The patient, who chose to remain anonymous and referred to himself as the “next Berlin patient,” was diagnosed with HIV in 2009 and later with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in 2015. This dual diagnosis led the medical team at Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Europe’s largest university hospital, to perform a stem cell transplant.
Long-term remission
Since ceasing antiviral therapy in 2018, the patient has shown no signs of cancer or HIV. “The virus-free observation period of more than five years now indicates that the HIV virus has actually been completely removed from the patient’s body,” said Professor Olaf Penack, a senior physician at the treating clinic. “We therefore consider him to be cured of his HIV infection.”
Despite this success, Professor Gaebler cautioned about the “considerable risks” associated with stem cell transplantation, making it unsuitable for widespread HIV treatment. “Previous stem cell transplants without an immune donor resulted in the HIV multiplying again after a few months,” he noted.
Cautious optimism in the scientific community
Sharon Lewin, President of the International AIDS Society, emphasized the cautious optimism surrounding this case due to uncertain follow-up durations. However, she acknowledged that over five years of remission brings the patient “close” to being considered cured. Unlike previous cases where donors had two copies of a mutated CCR5 gene, which made them immune to HIV, this patient received stem cells from a donor with only one copy, broadening the potential donor pool.
The Geneva patient, whose case was announced at last year’s AIDS conference, also received a transplant from a donor without any CCR5 mutations and achieved long-term remission, suggesting that the success of the procedure is not solely dependent on the CCR5 gene.
The legacy of the first Berlin patient
The original Berlin patient, Timothy Ray Brown, an American living in Germany, was diagnosed with HIV in 1995 and acute myeloid leukemia in 2006. A team at Charité not only successfully treated his leukemia but also achieved the world’s first complete removal of the HIV virus from his body, a case made public in 2008. Brown passed away in 2020 at the age of 54 after his leukemia returned.
Understanding stem cell transplants
According to the US National Cancer Institute, a stem cell transplant involves replacing a patient’s destroyed stem cells with healthy ones, which can come from the patient’s own blood or bone marrow or from a related or unrelated donor.
This recent case adds a hopeful chapter to the ongoing battle against HIV, demonstrating that with continued research and innovation, the landscape of HIV treatment could change dramatically.