A patient with HIV has achieved remission following a bone marrow transplant from a donor in 2020, according to public hospitals in Marseille, France. This case is reportedly the first in France and the eighth globally.
The patient, approximately 60 years old and diagnosed as HIV positive in 1999, developed acute myeloid leukemia in 2020. In July 2020, she underwent an allogeneic bone marrow transplant from a donor with a rare genetic mutation (Delta 32) on the CCR5 gene, which prevents HIV from entering cells.
After the transplant, which allowed for the treatment of leukemia, the patient continued her antiretroviral therapy for three years until October 2023. Subsequent virological examinations, including ultrasensitive viral load tests and searches for pro-viral DNA, returned negative results, indicating no trace of the virus.
However, the hospitals noted that this case cannot be generalized to all HIV patients due to the complexities of treatments associated with allografts. Nonetheless, it opens new avenues for research into the virus.
Globally, seven similar cases of allogeneic bone marrow transplants have been reported, with six involving donors carrying the Delta 32 mutation. While these remission cases represent a significant advancement, they involve risky procedures applicable only in very specific instances. The fight against HIV and AIDS continues to progress, although the end of the epidemic remains distant. In 2023, HIV infections dropped to a historic low, estimated between 1 million and 1.7 million, according to UNAIDS.