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'Boston Patients' Still HIV Free After Quitting Antiretroviral Meds
ananyo writes "Two men with HIV may have been cured after they received stem-cell transplants to treat the blood cancer lymphoma, their doctors announced today at the International AIDS Society Conference in Kuala Lumpur. One of the men received stem-cell transplants to replace his blood-cell-producing bone marrow about three years ago, and the other five years ago. Their regimens were similar to one used on Timothy Ray Brown, the 'Berlin patient' who has been living HIV-free for six years and is the only adult to have been declared cured of HIV. Last July, doctors announced that the two men — the 'Boston patients' — appeared to be living without detectable levels of HIV in their blood, but they were still taking antiretroviral medications at that time."
The story reports that they have only been off of medication for seven and fifteen weeks and they won't know for a year, but signs are looking positive.
The funny thing about medicine... as long as there's money to be made in selling the treatment you can be sure there won't be a cure. The treatment will always follow the bigger money.
A patient of chemo for cancer will take many thousands of dollars each year to combat their disease, so this is where cancer treatment seems to have stalled out in the US.
The "AIDS cocktail" has become quite inexpensive and costs a few bucks a week (until you get insurance numbers involved) so it's no surprising to see a more expensive treatment appear. A Stem Cell Transplant is a cash cow, with related costs adding up to $150-300k USD.