A SIXTH HIV patient has gone into remission thanks to a bone marrow transplant, scientists say.
The man dubbed the “Geneva patient” is the latest person with HIV to be declared in long-term remission.
Getty – ContributorA sixth HIV patient has gone into long-term remission thanks to a bone marrow transplant, scientists say[/caption]
Unlike in previous cases, however, he did not receive a transplant with a virus-blocking gene mutation.
The patient, who preferred not to be named and was first diagnosed with HIV in 1990, said: “What is happening to me is magnificent, magical.”
Just over 106,00 people in Britain were living with HIV in 2020, latest data show.
Advancements in medicine mean patients are now able to live with the disease and reduce the virus to undetectable levels in the body, reducing their risk of passing it on to others.
Five people have previously been declared cured of HIV, known as the Berlin, London, Duesseldorf, New York and City of Hope, California patients.
All had bone marrow transplants to treat serious cases of cancer, receiving stem cells from a donor with a mutation of the CCR5 gene.
This mutation is known to block HIV from entering the body’s cells.
In 2018, the Geneva patient similarly received a stem cell transplant to treat a particularly aggressive form of leukaemia.
But this time the transplant came from a donor who did not carry the CCR5 mutation, French and Swiss researchers said.
This means that the virus is still able to enter the patient’s cells.
However, 20 months after the man stopped taking HIV treatment doctors at Geneva University Hospitals have not found a trace of the virus in his system, the researchers said.
They stopped short of saying the latest patient was “cured” of the virus, warning there was still a chance it could still return.
Patients are only declared cured if the virus does not return in five years.
Dr Asier Saez-Cirion, of France‘s Pasteur Institute said if there was still no sign of the virus after 12 months “the probability that it will be undetectable in the future increases significantly”.
He told a press conference in Brisbane, Australian, there are a couple of possible explanations for why the Geneva patient remains HIV free.
Dr Saez-Cirion said: “In this specific case, perhaps the transplant eliminated all the infected cells without the need for the famous mutation.
“Or maybe his immunosuppressive treatment, which was required after the transplant, played a role.”
Sharon Lewin, the president of the International AIDS Society holding the HIV science conference in Brisbane, said the case was “promising”.
But she warned “even a single” particle of the virus can lead to HIV rebounding.
She said: “This particular individual will need to be watched closely over the next months and years.”
So far, those who have been freed from HIV all also had cancer.
Bone marrow transplants for cancer, which also beat HIV in their cases, are not considered a cure for the virus for most patients.
It would be too dangerous to give all HIV patients a bone or stem cell transplant – a last option in the treatment of cancer with several risks.