A UK patient’s HIV has become “undetectable” following a stem cell transplant – in the second case of its kind.
The London patient, who was being treated for cancer, has now been in remission from HIV for 18 months and is no longer taking HIV drugs. However, the researchers stressed it is too early to say the patient is “cured” of HIV.
Experts said the approach is not practical for treating most people with HIV, but may one day help find a cure.
The unnamed patient was diagnosed with HIV in 2003 and advanced Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2012.
He had chemotherapy to treat the Hodgkin’s cancer and stem cells were implanted into the patient from a donor resistant to HIV, leading to both his cancer and HIV going into remission.
Researchers from University College London, Imperial College London, Cambridge and Oxford universities were all involved in the case.
Image credit | Shutterstock
