Bone marrow transplant sparks long-term remission in second HIV patient, renewing hope for a cure
The cautiously optimistic call it sustained remission, others are hopeful it is a cure — but the doctors are impressed. An unnamed patient in London, once afflicted with cancer and the virus that causes AIDS, is free of both, courtesy an immune system overhaul triggered by a bone marrow transplant from an HIV-resistant donor.
The case comes a dozen years or so after the “Berlin patient” — now identified as Timothy Ray Brown — who achieved sustained remission following the same procedure for his leukemia. Although Brown underwent two transplants, was given total body irradiation no longer in use today, and was placed in an induced coma, he eventually recovered and was deemed HIV-free. Scientists took note, and tried repeatedly to duplicate the feat, but in vain.
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