Doctors Claim HIV-Positive Man Cured by Stem Cell Transplant

[knight_shadow]

Doctors believe a 42-year-old man was cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant in 2007, the medical journal Blood reported.
Timothy Ray Brown, an HIV-positive American living in Germany, had leukemia and was undergoing chemotherapy, when he received a transplant of stem cells from a donor carrying a rare, inherited gene mutation associated with a reduced risk HIV.
The transplant appeared to wipe out both diseases, giving hope to doctors. Brown’s case was published in a February 2009 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
"The patient is fine," Dr. Gero Hutter, who treated Brown, of Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin in Germany said in 2009. "Today, two years after his transplantation, he is still without any signs of HIV disease and without antiretroviral medication."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/1...#ixzz187p7TRkn

Huffington Post link

[DrPhil]

They should wait until a follow-up and the use of lab rats before they announce this.

[knight_shadow]

Too late.

[DrPhil]

Uh...it is obviously too late for them to wait.

[knight_shadow]

I know, I know lol

[AOEforme]

So Magic Johnson's money isn't the cure?

-------

They really need more testing to confirm this. If this is true, that would be amazing and wonderful, but I totally concur that they kind of jumped the gun on this announcement.

[AOII Angel]

Well, it's not like he had the stem cell transplant to treat his HIV, anyway. He had leukemia. I don't know if anyone would advocate taking a very dangerous treatment like a transplant to treat HIV which for many people is well treated with multi-drug therapy. It's interesting that he had this outcome...not so applicable for the bigger picture.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Well, it's not like he had the stem cell transplant to treat his HIV, anyway. He had leukemia. I don't know if anyone would advocate taking a very dangerous treatment like a transplant to treat HIV which for many people is well treated with multi-drug therapy. It's interesting that he had this outcome...not so applicable for the bigger picture.

Drug treatments are relatively effective, sure - but they aren't particularly cost-effective, and if a one-time transplant can eliminate any future risk, it might be preferable over, say, 50 years of continuous drug cocktail, right? (not that the transplant is cheap, either, but I'm sure you see what I'm getting at)

I do agree that it's likely more of a curiosity than anything else at this point, though - particularly as a one-off in a poorly-controlled environment.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

Drug treatments are relatively effective, sure - but they aren't particularly cost-effective, and if a one-time transplant can eliminate any future risk, it might be preferable over, say, 50 years of continuous drug cocktail, right? (not that the transplant is cheap, either, but I'm sure you see what I'm getting at)

I do agree that it's likely more of a curiosity than anything else at this point, though - particularly as a one-off in a poorly-controlled environment.

Transplant can kill you.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Transplant can kill you.

Taking the wrong drug cocktail can kill you. A bus that hits you in the crosswalk as you leave the HIV clinic can kill you. Et Cetera.

And I agree that this would be awesomely amazing if it were a concrete cure but they def jumped the gun on this one. I'd be interested to see what effect this has on the stem cell research debate if it's "proven" that stem cells can cure HIV.

[Drolefille]

Couldn't this guy just be the stem-cell version of the guy who had reportedly entirely fought off HIV within his own body? I'll have to see if I can find that story.

Blah blah, needs more tests, blah blah. Also, how do you guarantee a supply of blood from people with that gene mutation? Where's DS and his philosophical question thread: would you require people with the mutation to donate stem cells to save the lives of others?

ETFix a mistake

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Would you require people with the mutation to donate blood to save the lives of others?

It's their civic duty!

[thetaj]

Hmm, it says he received the transplant in 2007. They said he was fine and HIV-free in 2009, almost two years ago now. Sounds like they've given this time before releasing it to the public.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by christiangirl

You can call me ignorant but you're being ignorant of my point: Ish happens. People die from all sorts of things so, if a person WANTS the all-or-nothing option, they should be allowed to do so if it's available.

This made me think Kevorkian.

IIRC, patients go through trial-and-error with cocktails to make sure that they're getting the right combination. Once that's found, the risks go down greatly. Transplants/surgeries/etc carry a much greater risk, even with our advancements in medicine.

Re: "all-or-nothing" - Just because a patient thinks s/he knows what's best doesn't mean s/he actually does know what's best.

Originally Posted by thetaj

Hmm, it says he received the transplant in 2007. They said he was fine and HIV-free in 2009, almost two years ago now. Sounds like they've given this time before releasing it to the public.

I think the point is that this is one case. They should have waited until more tests were done before giving everyone a potentially false sense of hope.

[thetaj]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

I think the point is that this is one case. They should have waited until more tests were done before giving everyone a potentially false sense of hope.

Ah yes, fair enough. I still can't feel anything but elated at this news though