Guest MonkeySee Posted November 13, 2008 Posted November 13, 2008 I just heard on CNN that a 40 year old American man that was HIV+ was cured. I did not hear the entire newscast and so am not sure of all the details. I think he was diagnosed with leukemia. He underwent radiation therapy and chemotherapy. I think they did a stem cell transplant and included some sore of gene that is resistant to receiving the HIV virus. I am sure we will here the details in the very near future. If true, this is sure a giant step in the fight against Aids. Quote
Guest Steve1903 Posted November 13, 2008 Posted November 13, 2008 Bit the same as yourself in that I only caught a bit of this report but I'd wait to see what develops before getting too excited. Is it really completely gone? Was it a freak happening or have they really discovered something? Too early to celebrate. Quote
Gaybutton Posted November 13, 2008 Posted November 13, 2008 To put it extremely mildly, I am skeptical. If a cure has been found, don't you think that would be the major headline news throughout the entire world? I just looked at the CNN web site, and I can't find anything where this is even mentioned. Somehow, that doesn't strike me as a reason to think a cure for the world's most dreaded disease has been found. Even if this man really was cured, that doesn't mean the same treatment is going to work universally on everybody. Also, how much would such a treatment cost? What would be the availability of it? If you undergo the treatment, how much of a chance is there that it will really work? I don't think we're quite ready to hold a victory parade over HIV just yet. Quote
KhorTose Posted November 13, 2008 Posted November 13, 2008 Well are just two of many reports on this just published on Google. I am taking this with a grain of salt, but it sure would be nice, if true. http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?thearti...200811143283034 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4432564.stm Quote
Guest MonkeySee Posted November 14, 2008 Posted November 14, 2008 To put it extremely mildly, I am skeptical. Good to be skeptical, but if true, this is really a major breakthrough in the fight against aids. The medical community will have to study this and replicate the procedure. The cost is prohibitive now, for the average HIV patient, but in time these cost will come down. Someone told me that a stem cell transplant was around $300,000. No need to hold a victory parade over HIV, but certainly a bright note in the fight against AIDS. Quote
Gaybutton Posted November 14, 2008 Posted November 14, 2008 I am taking this with a grain of salt I'm taking it with the entire salt shaker. According to what I see in the two articles, this is a rare, isolated case and a great deal of further research is required, although I do agree with the opinion that a ray of hope exists, dim as that ray might be at this point. Obviously, even if this is something that eventually can be researched out and a true, genuine, universal, affordable cure can result, it's also obvious that such a cure is still years and years away. It would be fabulous to wake up one morning and find the headlines announcing there is now a cure and all you have to do is go over to the nearest pharmacy and buy some pills, but I wouldn't want to bet the farm that such a thing will be available within out lifetimes. It's a nice dream, though. Quote
payless Posted November 14, 2008 Posted November 14, 2008 American Foundation for AIDS Research A First Step Toward a Cure for AIDS? Novel Procedure Appears to Have Eliminated HIV By Jeffrey Laurence, M.D. November 5, 2008 We need a cure for AIDS. We can't treat our way out of this epidemic. Anti-HIV therapy is a lifelong commitment, accompanied by many life-altering and some potentially life-threatening side effects. And for every person placed on treatment, two to three are newly infected. In 2007 alone there were 2.7 million new infections, and only 31 percent of those who needed treatment received it. Viral reservoirs—cells and tissues in which HIV remains dormant, beyond the reach of anti-HIV drugs but poised to grow at any moment—persist for the life of an infected person. And while all currently available anti-HIV drugs suppress the virus, they cannot eliminate it. Given this context, a brief report in February 2008 by a group of physicians from Germany appeared to change everything when presented as a poster at the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston. It described a 40-year-old man—an American working in Berlin—whose HIV had been under good control for several years using a typical cocktail of drugs known as HAART. Then he developed acute leukemia. In an attempt to cure the leukemia, he underwent a course of radiation therapy and chemotherapy in preparation for a stem cell transplant. But in his case, rather than simply using the best match among available stem cell donors, his physicians did something very clever. They also screened potential donors for a natural mutation known as delta32 CCR5. CCR5 is the primary means by which most types of HIV infect cells. Individuals lacking this CCR5 receptor—the 1.5 percent of the Caucasian population in America and Europe with the delta32 mutation—are completely resistant to infection by the most common forms of HIV. The patient's stem cell transplant was a success, although relapse of his leukemia required a second transplant using the same donor. Now off all anti-HIV drugs for almost two years, the patient continues to show no detectable signs of HIV in his blood, bone marrow, lymph nodes, intestines, or brain. To the limits of our ability to detect HIV, it appears that the virus has been eradicated from his body. At the very least this patient represents a functional cure: he is off all anti-HIV meds, has a normal T-cell count, and exhibits no evidence of virus. amfAR quickly called together 10 experts in clinical AIDS, stem cell transplantation, and HIV virology for a two-day think tank at the MIT Endicott House to evaluate these data. The patient's physician, Gero Hutter, presented details of the case, which were closely scrutinized by all. In a summary statement, attendees indicated that this case does indeed represent at least a functional cure. Dr. Hutter agreed to ask his patient to provide additional blood samples so that scientists attending the amfAR meeting could perform even more sensitive tests to attempt to further document that the virus has been erased from the patient. amfAR is coordinating distribution of these samples. But amfAR's involvement doesn't end there. It is possible that the patient may have been cured of HIV/AIDS. But the cost of such a stem-cell transplant procedure can run up to $250,000. It is associated with a relatively high death rate from infectious and immunologic complications, and the number of delta32-CCR5 donors of appropriate tissue type would be very small. Here further research may yield key answers. For example, it is unknown whether the use of a delta32-CCR5 donor is essential. Perhaps the transplant procedure itself was the most important element. The potential to genetically engineer stem cells to remove CCR5 from a patient's own stem cells also exists, and strategies to do so were discussed at the think tank. These and related issues will serve as topics for an upcoming amfAR grant cycle. Dr. Laurence is amfAR's senior scientific consultant Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted November 14, 2008 Posted November 14, 2008 We've had this ghastly illness hanging over us for so long that any form of possible breakthrough should be welcomed. Yet I agree with GB. After all, the conclusion is far from definite, with the exact wording being just: "It is possible that the patient may have been cured of HIV/AIDS." Let's remember, drug therapy can often reduce the presence of the HIV virus in the blood so that it is "virtually" undetectable. But that does not mean you are 'cured'. Also, researchers have spent years investigating a group of western gay men infected by the virus decades ago who have never shown any of the effects of HIV-Aids. Perhaps these guys have something in their blood or immune system that will hold the key to further treatment and eventual erradication. Who knows! Quote
Gaybutton Posted November 14, 2008 Posted November 14, 2008 Who knows! That's the point. Nobody knows. That's what they are researching and experimenting to find out. Even if tomorrow morning they can prove they've really found a cure, it would still be years before such a treatment is generally available if things go they way they usually do. Quote
Guest MonkeySee Posted November 14, 2008 Posted November 14, 2008 That's the point. Nobody knows. That's what they are researching and experimenting to find out. Even if tomorrow morning they can prove they've really found a cure, it would still be years before such a treatment is generally available if things go they way they usually do. Yes, nobody knows. We do not know if this can be replicated in another individual. We do know it is going to be expensive. We do know it is going to take time. But this shows, after years of research and many tragic deaths, there may be a glimmer of hope. Quote
Guest topjohn5 Posted November 15, 2008 Posted November 15, 2008 Well, it's been 20 months and he is HIV free so far. You'll be surprised to note that this is not the first time this has happened. It has actually happened twice before.....here is the AP wire discussing it: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_..._aids_treatment A snipet from the above AP wire: This isn't the first time marrow transplants have been attempted for treating AIDS or HIV infection. In 1999, an article in the journal Medical Hypotheses reviewed the results of 32 attempts reported between 1982 and 1996. In two cases, HIV was apparently eradicated, the review reported. I guess scientists either aren't sure it will "stick" and the person will stay HIV free or their not 100% sure the person had it in the first place if they say "apparently eradicated". Or, just as likely the scientists' lawyers said don't want the doctors to state the person is HIV free..... that is more likethe real answer, hahaha! Quote
Guest laurence Posted November 15, 2008 Posted November 15, 2008 American Foundation for AIDS Research A First Step Toward a Cure for AIDS? Novel Procedure Appears to Have Eliminated HIV By Jeffrey Laurence, M.D. Dr. Laurence is amfAR's senior scientific consultant Gad! I have been trying to keep my identity a secret and now someone splashes it all over the forum. Not St. Laurence but Dr. Laurence. Quote
