Two More HIV Patients Now Virus-Free Thanks To Bone Marrow Transplant

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Two More HIV Patients Now Virus-Free Thanks To Bone Marrow Transplant

Posted by Soulskill on Friday July 27, 2012 @07:43AM from the cures-that-aren't-easy dept.

Diggester tips this quote from NBC News: "Two men unlucky enough to get both HIV and cancer have been seemingly cleared of the virus, raising hope that science may yet find a way to cure the infection that causes AIDS, 30 years into the epidemic. The researchers are cautious in declaring the two men cured, but more than two years after receiving bone marrow transplants, HIV can't be detected anywhere in their bodies. These two new cases are reminiscent of the so-called 'Berlin patient,' the only person known to have been cured of infection from the human immunodeficiency virus."

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In other news by Tr3vin · 2012-07-27 07:47 · Score: 4, Funny

In other news, a representative from Chick-Fil-A has stated that the company does not support bone marrow transplants.
1. Re:In other news by wisnoskij · 2012-07-27 08:04 · Score: 2
  
  And there is probably about the same percentage risk if not lower for a single unprotected act.
  Assuming the one pattern has aids, and it is unprotected sex:
  Vaginal Male >0.5%
  Vaginal female >1%
  Anal receptive >1.5%
  Anal (top M/F) >1%
  Male Oral (giving) >0.0001%
  Everything Else = 0
  These are supposed to be best estimates by experts, but of course we could never hold studies. And if you want rough chances with a condom, I think you just times the result by 1%.
  
  --
  Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
2. Re:In other news by xmousex · 2012-07-27 08:25 · Score: 2
  
  Everything Else = 0
  this
  right here
  is hilarious
  and definitely wrong
3. Re:In other news by Daniel+Dvorkin · 2012-07-27 19:49 · Score: 2
  
  Maybe you missed the part where he clearly stated he was talking about unprotected sex? I suppose there are people who see sticking needles in themselves as a sexual act, but I'm willing to go out on a limb and say they're such a tiny minority that their effect on the numbers is close enough to zero as makes no difference.
  
  --
  The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
100% clean bone marrow here ladies by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-27 07:48 · Score: 2, Funny

I do you a big favor, and later you do me some favors, deal?
Immunosupressants? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-27 07:53 · Score: 5, Insightful

Don't they have to take stuff to immunosuppress for the rest of their life with the bone marrow transplant? Trade one immunodeficiency for another?
1. Re:Immunosupressants? by slazzy · 2012-07-27 07:57 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Yes, you do have to take immunosuppressant drugs for bone marrow transplant will reject it. Probably also steroids such as Prednisone as well.
  
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  Website Just Down For Me? Find out
2. Re:Immunosupressants? by brainzach · 2012-07-27 08:06 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  You only have to take immunosuppressants for a year or two with a bone marrow transplant. The bone marrow will learn to recognize your body after a while.
  The real danger is there is about 15 to 50% dying from the treatment itself. It is probably better to use current HIV treatments and only use the bone marrow transplant as a last resort, similar to what they do for cancer.
3. Re:Immunosupressants? by MozeeToby · 2012-07-27 08:25 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  That all depends on a host of factors. If the transplant came from a brother or sister (or from yourself, which is becoming more and more common these days) the rate of rejection is very low (still not 0, but close to it). If it's coming from a stranger rejection is more likely, though that again depends on how good the match is and how the new immune system reacts. There are even cases where doctors will chose a 'less good' match for patients with persistent cancer because it increases the chances of the new immune helping to finish off the cancer. At least, that's what they told me when I was in to donate.
  Incidentally, it's not the host's body that rejects the bone marrow, it's generally the other way around. The new bone marrow rejects the host, called graft vs host disease.
4. Re:Immunosupressants? by MozeeToby · 2012-07-27 08:30 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  I was told the death rate is ~10% from the radiation to kill the patient's current bone marrow, ~5% due to graft vs host disease, and the rest of the fatality rate is due to the cancer not really being gone when they do the transplant. So the actual fatality rates would be much closer to the 15%, less still if you are doing it to otherwise healthy patients, and if you have a perfect match (from a sibling generally) the graft vs host disease rate will go to near zero. I bet you could push it down to 5%, still probably not worth it for most people... but I could imagine women who want to have kids taking the risk for one thing (though a bone marrow transplant might make getting pregnant risky in and of itself, just using it as an example).
5. Re:Immunosupressants? by brainzach · 2012-07-27 09:15 · Score: 2
  
  The mortality rates have a lot to do with the health of the patient and how well of a match they can get. Things get tricky because having graft vs hosts disease helps cure the cancer part because it will attack cancer cells before the rest of the body.
  The challenge is finding someone who is an exact match and have the genetics that is resistant to HIV. It might work for those lucky few, but people already have challenges finding a match without the HIV criteria.
6. Re:Immunosupressants? by alantus · 2012-07-27 11:39 · Score: 2
  
  The challenge is finding someone who is an exact match and have the genetics that is resistant to HIV. It might work for those lucky few, but people already have challenges finding a match without the HIV criteria.
  FTFA: "The findings may not apply to all patients. Both men were a little unusual in that they had a genetic mutation that can make immune cells resistant to infection by HIV. Their new immune cells, however, which came from the donors, are fully susceptible to the virus."
7. Re:Immunosupressants? by slew · 2012-07-27 13:06 · Score: 2
  
  That all depends on a host of factors. If the transplant came from a brother or sister (or from yourself, which is becoming more and more common these days) the rate of rejection is very low (still not 0, but close to it). If it's coming from a stranger rejection is more likely, though that again depends on how good the match is and how the new immune system reacts. There are even cases where doctors will chose a 'less good' match for patients with persistent cancer because it increases the chances of the new immune helping to finish off the cancer. At least, that's what they told me when I was in to donate.
  Incidentally, it's not the host's body that rejects the bone marrow, it's generally the other way around. The new bone marrow rejects the host, called graft vs host disease.
  I don't know about this case, but in standard BMT, a full histocompatible match with siblings isn't that likely (of course this doesn't fully correlate to the rate of rejection).
  AFAIK, Since one set of HLA (human leukocyte antigen) genes comes from your mother and one set comes from your father, there is roughly only a 1 in 4 chance that your brother or sister inherited the same two sets of HLA genes that you have.
  Of course you can attempt to use a partial match (there are 4 genes per set so the odds aren't that great) or even as low as a haplomatch (1/2 match), which by definition you have a 100% chance of that with your parent (you got one of those chromosomes, right), but still only 50% chance with a brother or sister (they might have gotten the other one).
  Apparently the standard treatment for partially matched donors is to deplete the donor graft of T lymphocite cells help avoid graft vs host disease. Sometimes they additionally prescribe more nasty radiation and chemotherapy type treatments to reduce the chance of rejection. But perhaps these things wouldn't be done for somebody with AIDS because they would tend to increase the risks of infection.
Well, yes and no. by Frosty+Piss · 2012-07-27 07:53 · Score: 3, Informative

There is not test or proof that they are 100% virus free. The test can only show that there is a high STATISTICAL probability that they MIGHT be virus free.

--
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
1. Re:Well, yes and no. by Antipater · 2012-07-27 07:57 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  That is currently true. However, an up-and-coming competitor for the AIDS-cure crown is a therapy that flushes latent HIV out of dormancy, to be monitored or killed. So it soon might be possible.
  
  --
  Everything is better with chainsaws.
2. Re:Well, yes and no. by sjames · 2012-07-27 08:00 · Score: 2
  
  That is true of any test though. No test is 100% accurate and no test if performed correctly 100% of the time.
3. Re:Well, yes and no. by wisnoskij · 2012-07-27 08:08 · Score: 2
  
  Every test is like that, not medical test (or otherwise) can tell you more then a statistical chance one way or the other.
  But if you take the test multiple times you get a guarantee, for all intents and purposes.
  
  --
  Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
4. Re:Well, yes and no. by Rhacman · 2012-07-27 09:56 · Score: 2
  
  Odds are, either you or someone you care about will make a mistake that will come to harm you or them at some point in your or their life. Perhaps they knew better, perhaps they didn't, they may not have even had a choice but are you content to write them off as simply suffering the consequences of their actions? I don't know the answer to that, perhaps you would be content but many of us would like to help those who are suffering, irrespective of the cause.
  
  --
  Account -> Discussions -> Disable Sigs
5. Re:Well, yes and no. by ultranova · 2012-07-27 10:49 · Score: 2
  
  Seriously, you can only do things to lower your odds of catching a cold or the flu but for HIV, it's 100% human caused and human spread via direct actions that if people stopped taking them, it would go away in 1 generation. But whatever, stupid, reckless, careless people will find some way to get themselves killed, HIV or otherwise.
  
  Yeah, all the stupid babies who don't have the good sense to test their mother for the infection before being born deserve their AIDS. And rape victims clearly had it coming too. Not to mention fools who need a blood transfusion for any reason.
  With your capacity for reason and empathy you'd make a great catholic bishop.
  
  --
  Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
6. Re:Well, yes and no. by TheSeatOfMyPants · 2012-07-27 12:53 · Score: 2
  
  Many people get it from a cheating partner/spouse, so everyone would need to become celibate—HIV would be conquered in 1 generation, but humanity wouldn't be around to celebrate it.
  
  --
  Now mostly at Usenet:comp.misc & SoylentNews.org (it's made of people!)
Statistical probablity? by 140Mandak262Jamuna · 2012-07-27 07:59 · Score: 5, Funny

There is not test or proof that they are 100% virus free. The test can only show that there is a high STATISTICAL probability that they MIGHT be virus free.
It reminds of the story about three professors walking down a country lane in Scotland. They see a black cow. The astrophysicist immediately declares, "All the cows in Scotland are black!". The professor of statistics interjects, "You are generalizing too much. All you can say is, the statistical probability of finding a black cow in Scotland is above zero. That is all."
The professor of mathematics looks at them and says, "That is also a generalization, my friend. All we can say now is, this side of that cow is black".

--
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
1. Re:Statistical probablity? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-27 08:32 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  And then a farmer walks over to them and points out that it's a sheep.
Genetic Lottery Winner? by rmdingler · 2012-07-27 08:00 · Score: 4, Interesting

Just how prevalent is this genetic mutation? IANAD, but assuming there must also be a very close match as with other transplants, will this help a few or many?

--
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
1. Re:Genetic Lottery Winner? by realityimpaired · 2012-07-27 08:13 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  About 1% in northern Europeans, and it's not known to occur in other racial groups... they happened to be doing a story on the Berlin patient on CBC a few days ago, and I was listening to it.
  http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2260029968/
  And as you point out, whether a person is a good match for a bone marrow transplant is a big question... it's significantly harder to find a match for a bone marrow transplant. The video goes into detail on it.
Ah, yes. by tgd · 2012-07-27 08:09 · Score: 5, Funny

Just goes to show, when you have a virus you can't get rid of, reboot and re-install.
Re:Isn't it ironic by reub2000 · 2012-07-27 08:39 · Score: 2

Sounds more like starting smaller fires in order to control a much larger fire.
Re:How much does it cost? Who's paying for it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-27 08:48 · Score: 2, Insightful

That is not a very Christian way to look at things.
Become a donor by QuantumRiff · 2012-07-27 09:17 · Score: 5, Informative

Lots of people don't realize anyone can be a bone marrow donor.. Be the Match runs a large registry. I clicked a few buttons on the website, and 2 weeks later, had a cheekswab in the mail. Probably simpler than registering to be a donor on my Drivers License, because I didn't have to wait at the DMV :)
This is somewhat off-topic, since it doesn't have to do with the treatment, or treatment for aids, but Bone Marrow transplants are needed for lots of cancers too.

--

What are we going to do tonight Brain?
1. Re:Become a donor by GodfatherofSoul · 2012-07-27 13:50 · Score: 2
  
  I really don't get why there's such a pouty attitude from gay Americans about this. Guess what, you're in a high-risk, high-rate group with about 21% infectiona and half don't even KNOW they're infected. The healthcare community isn't afraid of passing The Gay through blood transfusions. I'm African American, if I were gay the infection rate for my demo would be around 40%!
  
  --
  I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Re:Political Correctness by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-27 09:44 · Score: 2, Insightful

I guess what you're saying is that unless the corporation agrees with YOUR point of view, they shouldn't be involved with politics.
I didn't hear anyone screaming about the following corporations donating money to pro same sex marriage causes and legislation:
Amazon
Microsoft
Starbucks
Nike
General Mills
Nabisco
Kraft
and many, many more...
Re:No CFA is CLOSED on Sunday by kurzweilfreak · 2012-07-27 13:16 · Score: 2

You don't have to respect someone for standing by their beliefs when their beliefs are fucking stupid. Do you respect the KKK for standing by their beliefs?

--
kurzweil_freak
5th Kyu Genbukan Ninpo/KJJR student
Be the darkness that allows the light to shine.
Re:Political Correctness by kurzweilfreak · 2012-07-27 13:20 · Score: 2

Chick-Fil-A donates lots of money to anti-gay groups that do lobby for no-gay marriage. That's definitely supporting a anti-gay activity in my book.

--
kurzweil_freak
5th Kyu Genbukan Ninpo/KJJR student
Be the darkness that allows the light to shine.
Re:Political Correctness by kurzweilfreak · 2012-07-27 13:21 · Score: 2

Different situation when all of those acts had the potential to directly affect the way those businesses conducted their business.

--
kurzweil_freak
5th Kyu Genbukan Ninpo/KJJR student
Be the darkness that allows the light to shine.
Re:You are the DEFINITION of "Politically Correct" by residieu · 2012-07-30 01:10 · Score: 2

I have as much right not to be offended
No, you have no right not to be offended.
Everyone has the right not to be offended, no one can MAKE you be offended. Just don't confuse that with "I have the right to not be exposed to anything that I deem offensive." If he's offended by innocent displays of gay affection, well that's his problem.