Medical researchers have revealed that a middle-aged woman of the mixed-race background has been cured of HIV using a new radical stem cell treatment.
The woman's case was presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Denver, where it was said she was suffering from leukemia and had undergone a stem-cell transplant using umbilical cord stem cells.
Since her leukemia treatment she has been officially clear of HIV for the last 14 months.
The treatment of the woman is part of a study led by Dr. Yvonne Bryson at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), and Dr. Deborah Persaud at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, which is looking at novel treatments of for the deadly disease. 25 more patients are expected to receive stem cell treatment, all of whom are suffering from both cancer and HIV.
All patients will first undergo chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant from individuals who have a genetic variance that means they are immune to HIV infection. While this procedure can cure HIV it is highly dangerous, costly, and not suitable for those without other serious diseases. However, it is hoped that the use of umbilical cord stem-cells may make the procedure safer in the future and make the treatment more widely available.
Two other individuals have been successfully cured of HIV in the past when they have received bone-marrow transplants from people who had the genetic variance that generates HIV immunity.
Commenting on the woman's case, Dr. Steven Deeks, an AIDS expert at the University of California told The New York Times:
"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."
HIV is a deadly disease that usually results without treatment in the development of AIDS. HIV and AIDS undermine the body's immune system resulting in mild infections being potentially deadly, HIV and AIDs patients are also much more likely to develop cancers and other illnesses. Around 38 million people have died of AIDS since it emerged in the 1970s.
[Based on reporting by: 9Gag]
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