HIV cure?

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 12/14/10 at 4:46pm

The Huffington Post is reporting that a man in Berlin has been cured of HIV through a stem cell transplant. This has the potential to be pretty amazing news!
First HIV positive man cured?

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 12/14/10 at 4:51pm

Just saw this on FB. While I am very, VERY excited for this news, I cant help but feel like this is the beginning of a long road of people protesting this and blocking it from making any progress over here in the states.
However, this is a miracle in the medical field and like you said, more then likely will become huge news and a beacon of hope for many suffering from this horrid disease.

[mominator]

Posted: 12/14/10 at 4:54pm

This would be amazing!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/14/10 at 5:21pm

If would be wonderful news if the Conservatives Christians didn't want to outlaw stem cell research in the US. My guess is, they are not really concerned with any individual with HIV.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 12/14/10 at 5:34pm

I swear this was reported on several years ago, right after the man had the transplant. Maybe it's back in the news because the guy is still free of HIV?

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 12/14/10 at 5:38pm

I foresee Americans with HIV traveling to Europe for treatment. We have a spare room if anyone needs to crash.

[ThoroughlyModern]

Posted: 12/14/10 at 5:40pm

It would be fantastic if this could be used in the treatment/cure of HIV.

Updated On: 12/14/10 at 05:40 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 12/14/10 at 5:48pm

Just bear in mind that stem cell transplants are dangerous and grueling on the body. Even with this news, which I greet as positive, it's not like people any time soon will be able to do this on a whim.
Updated On: 12/14/10 at 05:48 PM

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 12/14/10 at 5:50pm

@PRS...yes..this man has been reported on before. It's in the news again because of the time that has passed. And because his doctors just published a detailed report where they claim that after years of extensive testing he is still HIV free.

Of course, like others mentioned, the biggest obstacle to this treatment moving forward here are the idiots from the religious right. My guess is the drug companies won't be thrilled about it either.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 12/14/10 at 5:51pm

Thanks, Erik. I was certain I'd heard about this before, but wondered if I was losing it.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 12/14/10 at 7:41pm

I thought the man first received a kidney/liver transplant first and tested negative after that.

[Almira]

Posted: 12/14/10 at 8:18pm

Is this the same story from two years ago?

https://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=93710

Was there a thread about this then too?

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?boardid=2&boardname=off&thread=984257#3703278

[bethnor]

Posted: 12/14/10 at 8:19pm

thank you for making me review the subject.

to clarify some things:

AFAIK, the religious right objects to embryonic stem cell research. they do not, i believe, object to adult (as was the case here).

a sobering thing to realize is that there are a number of extraordinary, extenuating circumstances that make this case unique (though still intriguing). first, the transplant was not done to cure HIV. that is to say, the patient had a hematologic malignancy as well as HIV, the transplant was for the former and just happens to appear to do something for the latter. in other words, this case would be much more promising if the original intent was to cure HIV.

second. unless you do an autologous (your own), there is a strong likelihood that you would have to end up on drugs to prevent rejection. that are in all likelihood just as or more complex than HAART (as the trend in HAART is more simplified regimens). i.e., you would be trading off one set of drugs for another (so the drug companies would still have something to be happy about).

third. the extraordinary set of circumstances. not only was the donor a fair match, they were also homozygous for CCR5 deficiency. i would be lying if i said i knew the exact demographics of that, but i would rest assured that it's not fairly common. and, i hate to say it, there is a disproportionate number of patients with HIV who are non-white, and, as the shannon tavarez case demonstrated recently, there is a sad shortage of potential donors for latinos and african-americans (all the more reason to get those individuals to register).

sorry to be a debbie-downer. just letting people know that an a cure that be practically applied to all patients is not in the foreseeable future. but the disease is readily treatable and preventable, which is plenty of reason for hope.

[Plum]

Posted: 12/15/10 at 1:17am

Getting full-body irradiation and a bone marrow transplant is an incredibly dangerous procedure, one that's only attempted in really desperate cases. It's really, really hard to find marrow donors who are a perfect match, and finding one with this HIV resistance gene is...insanely unlikely. The whole procedure, in general, can be as likely to kill as cure you, and it is not an easy death.

The cured patient received this treatment because he had leukemia and no other choices; the fact that it worked is awesome but hardly an indicator that the procedure should be repeated in any but the most desperate of cases. What's needed is a better way to make the patient produce blood cells with the HIV-resistance gene in them.

That said, a few more notes:

-These stem cells don't come from embryos; they come from placental or cord tissue, bone marrow, or - most likely - the blood of a donor. So this doesn't need to be a political issue.

-Because HLA-typing is way more variable than plain blood typing, people with leukemia, multiple myeloma, lymphoma, and other diseases die for lack of a matching marrow donor all the time. So join the marrow registry, please - these days the procedure for donation is often apheresis, so there's no need to fear a needle going into your pelvis. And even if you do donate the old-fashioned way, you'll be under general anesthesia, and it's worth it to save someone's life.

(Slightly off-topic, I know. Sorry about that.)
National Bone Marrow Donor Program

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 12/15/10 at 2:18am

In a stunning bit of irony serendipity, you can't donate bone marrow if you are gay!

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 12/15/10 at 1:07pm

one of my favorite clips from The Family Guy


Why are we not funding this?!?!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/15/10 at 1:13pm

AFAIK, the religious right objects to embryonic stem cell research. they do not, i believe, object to adult (as was the case here).

I'm sure some of them do. But the majority of them either do not make that distinction or even recognize there is a distinction. They only need to hear the words "stem cell" and they will go off in a tirade. It's like the words "health care reform". It doesn't matter what the reform is, they just know it is BAD. And don't even get me started on the word "socialist".

[Plum]

Posted: 12/15/10 at 7:17pm

Phyllis, I had no idea about the "men who have sex with men" restriction. It is less restrictive than the Red Cross' blood donation lifetime ban, but still. Argh. That's terrible.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 12/15/10 at 7:34pm

I've heard the word 'cure' used before.

I'm not going to get excited until there is some solid proof.

Besides, as was stated, this was a side effect from something that wasn't even intended for an AIDS cure.

[hottieho13]

Posted: 12/15/10 at 8:06pm

this is a wonderful break through!hopefuly this news is true and the HIV dosn't come back(it could happen)because this would finally mean it is POSSIBLE to be cured of HIV and maybe the treatment can get modified to where the human body has even a greater chance of getting through the treatment.

[Taryn]

Posted: 12/15/10 at 8:17pm

The treatment was a couple years ago, which is why I think they're announcing now that he's officially cured. Because it's been several years without a return of the HIV.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 12/16/10 at 9:31pm

I hold out lots of hope for what can be done with stem cells in a variety of illnesses.

I think calling his HIV cured is a little premature. It's certainly a positive response to a new treatment, but I hope someone is knocking on wood when they are saying the C-word (that would be "cure" in this instance).

[sabrelady]

Posted: 12/17/10 at 5:53pm

Totally agree w iflit here. The 3 years disease free is wonderful but no doc I know would use the "cure" word for a lot longer time period. At one point it was 5 yrs but now the standard is 10 years. ( that is more for cancer tho)

"Getting full-body irradiation and a bone marrow transplant is an incredibly dangerous procedure, one that's only attempted in really desperate cases."
Can't agree. It's a decison based on benefits vs risks. Transplant is usually the goal in most of the hematologic cancers as the only really viable "cure" option. Otherwise you try to control the symtoms until the disease overwhelms and the patient dies. ( even then w stuff like mutiple myeloma transplant just buys u time not a cure) I have seen long remissions in AML/ALL but sooner or later transplant becomes required and you have to hope there are no other underlying health conditions that would complicate the matter at that time.
The case is fascinating but I get the feeling there is a certain "beat the odds" arbitrariness to this. There was a case a few years ago about a Jewish patient who had a transplant from an Aboriginal First Nations donor
who turned out to be a more that 6 HLA match ( they cld it perfect!) NObody woulda put money on that bet but sometimes longshots do work!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 12/17/10 at 11:12pm

Is it seriously ten years for cancer now? Yikes. Talk about killing my medical marijuana buzz.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 12/17/10 at 11:46pm

Sorry Phyllis, just inhale a bit deeper and the buzz will come back!

The hospital I work at has this big "cure cancer in our lifetime"
banner hanging outside. It p*sses me off royally cos its PR marketing to bring in bucks for the foundation. Cos
Cure" sells and "disease free" don't. But one IS accurate and tthe other just is not.
TThere are a lot of diseases I suspect we may never completely cure but we will be able to treat and manage and maintain a good quality of life.
But that won't convert to a "sexy" sound bite.