In HIV/AIDS memory lane, only one person is believed to have been cured of the virus, Timothy Ray Brown an American alias ‘Berlin patient’ and now the World celebrates the news of a second patient who appears to be cured of the infection.
The Berlin patient had been HIV positive until two stem-cell transplants in 2007 and 2008 which cleared the virus from his body. The Berlin patient had leukemia, a blood and bone marrow cancer, which had necessitated the stem-cell transplants.12 years later, researchers have tried and failed in duplicating the same success story witnessed in the Berlin patient until the most recent case.
Unlike Timothy Ray Brown, the current cured patient wishes to remain anonymous and is a man who too had cancer. The second patient received cancer treatment which included chemotherapy and later a stem-cell transplant, which had non-malignant donor cells.
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In both patients, the donor cells had a CCR5 genetic mutation that boosted their HIV immunity. The second patient has not been on the antiretroviral drugs since September 2017; sixteen months after his stem cell transplant in May 2016, yet remains HIV-free to date. People with CCR5 are HIV resistant.
Researchers have tried the stem cell transplant on other patients who have unfortunately not made it either because the cancer was too spread, the virus returned or side effects of the stem cell transplant.
“By repeating the procedure in another patient, there is more evidence that the ‘Berlin patient’ is not a sole exception,” said Gero Hütter, the German hematologist who treated Mr. Brown.
The Human Immune Virus is estimated to have caused over 40 million deaths. Researchers have over the decades made notable progress in fighting the virus and reducing the numbers of deaths.
Early diagnose with regular testing continues to encourage globally to ensure timely treatment which is most effective. HIV cure remains elusive as patients are administered with medication to suppress the spread of the virus to avoid it blowing to the full blown AIDS.
The cure of the second patient offers the hope for light at the end of the tunnel that HIV treatment could be available globally and encourages researchers to put in more effort.
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