That Happened!

New York - A U.S. man living with HIV and leukemia received a bone marrow from a donor with a rare genetic mutation that immunized against most strains of AIDS. The man is now completely cured of both ailments.

Researchers say the man shows no signs of either disease since his transplant over two years ago.

In a statement, Professor Rodolf Tauber from the Charite clinic said: “This is an interesting case for research.

“But to promise to millions of people infected with HIV that there is hope of a cure would not be right.”

Thee patient, a 42-year-old American who lives in Berlin, had to undergo a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia that he was diagnosed with three years ago.

Among potential donors who had a bone marrow compatible with his, was a person carrying a genetic mutation already known to scientists but unexplained until the present: this peculiarity, a receptor CCR5 mutation of the virus is present in a ratio of 1% to 3% in the European population and seems to confer on individuals carrying an immunity to HIV.

The team’s hematologist Berlin Eckhard Thiel, who took care of the patient, chose this particular donor “in the hope that after bone marrow transplantation infection with HIV of the patient would disappear too.”

The patient was under retroviral treatment for several years and never developed AIDS, waived his treatment at the time of transplantation to avoid that antivirals did not cause its rejection.

The successful transplant offers hope for cutting-edge gene therapies. However, HIV researchers warn that more extensive testing is required to prove that the virus no longer exists

Last year 2 million people worldwide died of AIDS with another 2.7 million becoming infected.