Second patient declared ‘cured of HIV’ after staying virus-free for 30 months

According to researchers, this patient received stem cells from a donor with a relatively rare genetic mutation that confers resistance to HIV.

By: Editorial Team | Edited by: Longjam Dineshwori | | Updated: March 11, 2020 5:15 pm

In 2011, a patient from Berlin became the first person reported as cured of HIV.

A man in London has become the second person to be ever cured of HIV after undergoing stem cell transplant treatment. The man, named Adam Castillejois, is still free of the virus more than 30 months after stopping anti-retroviral therapy, reports the Lancet HIV journal.

Castillejois, previously known as the “London patient,” was first diagnosed with HIV in 2003. In 2012, doctors found he also had advanced Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a deadly cancer. In the year 2016 he underwent a special bone-marrow transplant to treat blood cancer.

Last year, the 40-year-old man made headlines after researchers reported that they had found no trace of the AIDS-causing virus in his blood for 18 months. Now, his doctors are even more sure that he is completely HIV-free.

Ravindra Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology the University of Cambridge, is the lead author of the study that appeared in The Lancet HIV. According to him, the new test results were “even more remarkable” and likely demonstrated the patient is cured of HIV.

The first person cured of HIV

In 2011, an American man became the first person reported as cured of HIV. Timothy Brown, known as the “Berlin Patient”, received a similar bone-marrow transplant in 2007. He was declared HIV-free three and half years after having the treatment. He has been HIV-free for more than a decade now.

Can stem cell transplant treatment cure HIV?

According to the researchers, both Castillejo and Brown received stem cells from donors with a relatively rare genetic mutation that confers resistance to HIV.

However, they ruled out a bone-marrow transplant as a standard therapy for all patients with HIV. They cautioned that such transplants are risky. The researchers also pointed out that both Castillejo and Brown needed the stem cell transplant to treat cancer, rather than for HIV.

Castillejo had to go through the transplant as a last resort to save him from blood cancer, Gupta explained.

The Cambridge doctor also cited several other patients who had undergone similar treatment but with no such positive results.

Whether or not HIV patients should get stem cell transplants would require careful ethical consideration – Gupta noted.

Published : March 11, 2020 4:52 pm | Updated:March 11, 2020 5:15 pm

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