A Possible Cure for AIDS

Stem Cell Research Leads to a Breakthrough
by Rachel Lueder

   New information has recently been discovered on the path for the cure for AIDS.  Two HIV positive men who received stem-cell transplants to treat their cancers have no sign of the virus, even after the treatment ceased.  Dr. Timothy Henrich, an associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said the men are currently off all of their AIDS medications.  The first patient has been off his treatments for fifteen weeks, and the other has been off his for seven weeks.  Both the men were diagnosed with blood cancer lymphoma, and both received the stem-cell transplants shortly after being diagnosed with the cancer.  This isn’t the first time the transplants have been successful.  A man named Timothy Ray Brown, who had the HIV virus along with leukemia, also received a stem-cell transplant from a person with a genetic mutation.
   The genetic mutation, called delta 32, made the person HIV-resistant.  A question frequently asked is “Why can’t people living with the AIDS virus just get a stem-cell transplant to cure them?” It isn’t that easy.  It’s a very risky procedure, and it isn’t a realistic treatment option for most people.  It is quite expensive, and stem-cell transplants are usually only performed on patients likely to die from cancer.  Any transplant requires a weakened immune system, which puts the patient at a fifteen to twenty percent risk of death. Further research is being done, so keep your ears peeled for more information in the near future.