A man known as the “Dusseldorf patient” has become the third person to be declared cured of HIV, as a result of a bone marrow transplant, which also helped treat him for blood cancer, according to a recent study.
So far, only two other cases of cure from HIV and cancer have been recorded in scientific journals at the same time, for two patients in Berlin and London, reports Al-Rai daily.
Details of the Dusseldorf patient’s treatment have been published in the journal Nature Medicine. The 53-year-old, who was not identified, was diagnosed with HIV in 2008 and three years later developed acute myeloid leukemia, a type of blood cancer that poses a serious threat to the patient’s life.
In 2013, the patient underwent a bone marrow transplant using stem cells provided by a donor with a rare mutation in the CCR5 gene, which limits the entry of HIV into cells. In 2018, the Dusseldorf patient stopped taking antiretroviral therapy for HIV.
Four years later, the results of the HIV tests that the patient had been conducting periodically came back negative. The study indicated that “this achievement represents the third case of recovery from HIV,” pointing out that the recovery of the Dusseldorf patient provides “an important insight that it is hoped will contribute to directing future strategies related to treatment.”
“I am proud of the team of international doctors who succeeded in treating me from HIV and leukemia at the same time,” the patient said in a statement. At the same time, he indicated that the donor “was a guest of honor” at the celebration.