A man with HIV living in Germany may have been cured of his infection by a bone marrow transplant, researchers claim.
In 2007, the man received a bone marrow transplant to treat his leukemia. The transplant — which treats leukemia by essentially rebooting the body’s immune system and creating new white blood cells —also had the benefit of wiping out the HIV infection. Now, three and a half years later, the patient remains HIV-free, which suggests he is cured of the disease, the researchers said.
“I’m extremely excited about the result,” said Jerome Zack, a researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, who studies HIV infection and was not involved in the study. “It suggests that at least in this one individual, there’s a long-term benefit to this approach.”
