As of: February 18, 2024, 4:46 a.m
By: Robin Dittrich
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The fifth person in the world was cured of HIV and leukemia using stem cell therapy.
© Panama Pictures/Imago (symbol image)
If an HIV infection is not treated, it develops into AIDS.
A cure for HIV has been sought for a long time - has it been successful?
Frankfurt – According to the WHO, around 39 million people worldwide are currently living with the human immunodeficiency virus, better known as HIV.
A 68-year-old man has now become the fifth person to be cured through combined therapy.
Milestone in the fight against HIV: man cured after 30 years
A few decades ago, HIV infection was considered a death sentence.
The virus can now be treated with medication so that the infection can be prevented from leading to AIDS.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is still fatal; according to the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, almost 800,000 people die from it every year.
Since 2005, however, the annual number of deaths has fallen by 55 percent.
In order to further reduce these numbers, research is being carried out into cures for HIV infection.
The “Berlin Patient” went down in history as the first person cured of HIV.
It has now become known that the fifth person has been cured through therapy.
This was achieved through the transplantation of special stem cells, which cured the man of his HIV infection and leukemia.
The now 68-year-old previously suffered from HIV infection for over 30 years.
New therapies against cancer can also give people hope.
Combined therapy cures 68-year-old of HIV infection and leukemia
The combined therapy may have been successful because the 69-year-old received a blood stem cell transplant from a donor with a rare gene mutation.
The man, who was infected with HIV, had originally taken antiretroviral therapy but stopped taking it three years ago.
The case shows that it is possible to achieve success with the stem cell approach even when patients are older and after living with HIV for many years, said the responsible medical team led by Jana Dickter in the
New England Journal of Medicine
.
However, the latest success does not promise a cure for all HIV patients.
Stem cell therapy carries a high risk and is only used for very seriously ill people.
However, with antiretroviral therapy (ART) medications, the HIV infection can be well tolerated anyway.
All people cured of HIV so far also suffered from cancer and received a stem cell transplant.
It is important for successful therapy that the donors lack the so-called CCR55 receptor - a gateway through which HIV penetrates many body cells.
(
rd/dpa
)