Via Stem Cell Transplant, German Docotors Say They've Cured a Patient's HIV
A huge story with implications that aren't all immediately clear is emerging in Berlin this week: doctors treating an HIV-infected with leukemia believe they have, in a roundabout way, cured his HIV infection via a stem cell transplant containing cells that happened to be impervious to HIV infection. And while the story by no means indicates that a cure for HIV has been discovered, the unexpected finding certainly opens the door to further review and great optimism in a frustrating battle that has now spanned several decades. The "Berlin patient," an American citizen living in Berlin, received a stem cell transplant back in 2007 as a treatment for his leukemia. Before the transplant he received chemotherapy treatment and total body irradiation that eradicated most of his immune cells, and received further immunosuppressive drugs to prevent his body from rejecting the stem cells. Related ArticlesFor the First Time Ever, an HIV Vaccine Shows...