An American suffering from AIDS in Berlin has apparently been cured of the deadly disease after undergoing a bone marrow transplant.  It must be said up front that these are very early findings, coming from one single, solitary individual, and therefore must be taken with appropriate caution.  But the story is still remarkable and offers another research path going forward in the search for a cure to the virus. 

The patient, a 42-year-old American man who had been living with AIDS for over a decade in Berlin, underwent a targeted bone marrow transplant procedure, using tissue from a donor naturally resistant to the AIDS virus, in order to fight leukemia, from which he was also suffering.  Twenty months after the transplant, the man shows no signs of carrying the AIDS virus according to tests performed by the hospital. 

However the procedure underwent by the AIDS patient is completely impractical as a widespread treatment for AIDS.  For starters it is incredibly risky, with the patient’s own immune system being essentially wiped out by drugs and radiation, before the transplanted bone marrow was put into his body.  Between 10-30% of patients undergoing such treatments normally do not survive, however the risk was justified in this specific case due to the patient’s leukemia.  Secondly the procedure is incredibly complicated and expensive to perform.

You can takepart in helping combact AIDS by checking out Gay Men’s Health Crisis.

LINKS:

New Zealand Herald: Bone marrow spurs hope of AIDS cure

NY Times: Rare treatment is reported to cure AIDS patient

The Australian: Claims of AIDS cure met with caution