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Woman is cured of HIV in huge breakthrough for virus treatment
www.independent.co.uk
Scientists may have cured HIV in a woman for the first time.
A group of American researchers used a new method of transplanting stem cells that they hope could be administered to dozens of people every year.
The woman, who is of mixed race, is the third person ever to be cured of HIV. Scientists announced on Tuesday that the method, which involves the use of umbilical cord blood, could lead to more racially diverse people being cured than was previously believed to be possible.
There is a larger supply of cord blood than adult stem cells, which are usually used in bone marrow transplants, and cord blood also doesn’t need to be as closely matched to the patient. Most donors are Caucasian, meaning that a partial match could cure dozens of those suffering from both cancer and HIV in the US every year, The New York Times reported.
The woman who was cured was also afflicted by leukaemia, and she received cord blood to treat it, which came from a donor who was a partial match. The usual practice is to find a bone marrow donor whose race and ethnicity is similar to that of the patient. The woman also received blood from a close relative to temporarily boost her body’s immune system as the transplant settled.
The new findings were presented on Tuesday at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Denver, Colorado.
University of California, San Francisco AIDS expert Dr Steven Deeks said that “the fact that she’s mixed race, and that she’s a woman, that is really important scientifically and really important in terms of the community impact,” The New York Times reported.
Women account for the majority of global HIV cases but only make up 11 per cent of participants in cure trials. The disease is thought to develop differently in men and women.
But Dr Deeks added that he doesn’t believe the new treatment will grow into widespread use. “These are stories of providing inspiration to the field and perhaps the road map,” he said.
Almost 38 million people around the world are living with HIV, with around 73 per cent of them receiving treatment via strong antiretroviral drugs that can control the virus. Most of them cannot go through a bone marrow transplant, as the procedure is invasive and risky. This kind of treatment tends to be provided to cancer patients without other options.
According to The Times, two others have previously been cured of HIV. Timothy Ray Brown, known as “The Berlin Patient”, remained free of the virus for 12 years before dying of cancer in 2020.
A Woman Is Cured of H.I.V. Using a Novel Treatment
She’s the third person ever to be cured. Researchers announced that the new approach holds the potential for curing more people of racially diverse backgrounds
www.nytimes.com
A colored scanning electron micrograph of H.I.V. particles, in yellow, infecting a host cell. The patient received cord blood from a donor with the mutation that blocks H.I.V.’s entry into cells.Credit...Thomas Deerinck, NCMIR/Science Source
Woman is cured of HIV in huge breakthrough for virus treatment
Scientists may have cured HIV in a woman for the first time.
www.independent.co.uk
Scientists may have cured HIV in a woman for the first time.
A group of American researchers used a new method of transplanting stem cells that they hope could be administered to dozens of people every year.
The woman, who is of mixed race, is the third person ever to be cured of HIV. Scientists announced on Tuesday that the method, which involves the use of umbilical cord blood, could lead to more racially diverse people being cured than was previously believed to be possible.
There is a larger supply of cord blood than adult stem cells, which are usually used in bone marrow transplants, and cord blood also doesn’t need to be as closely matched to the patient. Most donors are Caucasian, meaning that a partial match could cure dozens of those suffering from both cancer and HIV in the US every year, The New York Times reported.
The woman who was cured was also afflicted by leukaemia, and she received cord blood to treat it, which came from a donor who was a partial match. The usual practice is to find a bone marrow donor whose race and ethnicity is similar to that of the patient. The woman also received blood from a close relative to temporarily boost her body’s immune system as the transplant settled.
The new findings were presented on Tuesday at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Denver, Colorado.
University of California, San Francisco AIDS expert Dr Steven Deeks said that “the fact that she’s mixed race, and that she’s a woman, that is really important scientifically and really important in terms of the community impact,” The New York Times reported.
Women account for the majority of global HIV cases but only make up 11 per cent of participants in cure trials. The disease is thought to develop differently in men and women.
But Dr Deeks added that he doesn’t believe the new treatment will grow into widespread use. “These are stories of providing inspiration to the field and perhaps the road map,” he said.
Almost 38 million people around the world are living with HIV, with around 73 per cent of them receiving treatment via strong antiretroviral drugs that can control the virus. Most of them cannot go through a bone marrow transplant, as the procedure is invasive and risky. This kind of treatment tends to be provided to cancer patients without other options.
According to The Times, two others have previously been cured of HIV. Timothy Ray Brown, known as “The Berlin Patient”, remained free of the virus for 12 years before dying of cancer in 2020.
A Woman Is Cured of H.I.V. Using a Novel Treatment
She’s the third person ever to be cured. Researchers announced that the new approach holds the potential for curing more people of racially diverse backgrounds
A Woman Is Cured of H.I.V. Using a Novel Treatment (Published 2022)
She’s the third person ever to be cured. Researchers announced that the new approach holds the potential for curing more people of racially diverse backgrounds.
A colored scanning electron micrograph of H.I.V. particles, in yellow, infecting a host cell. The patient received cord blood from a donor with the mutation that blocks H.I.V.’s entry into cells.Credit...Thomas Deerinck, NCMIR/Science Source
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