A woman living with HIV has received a dual stem cell transplantation, where an umbilical cord blood transplant was combined with a half-mathced bone marrow transplant for the treatment of an acute myelogenous leukemia. The IMPAACT P1007 (International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trial Network) researches showed this successful case at the 29th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2022). At 37 months after the transplant, there has been no HIV detected for 14 months.
Through observing the outcomes in people living with HIV who undergo a transplantation with cord blood stem cells with a CCR5 genetic mutation, the IMPAACT P1007 team has made some important discoveries. The genetic mutation of the CCR5 genetic mutation results in T cells without CCR5 co-receptors. As HIV requires these co-receptors to infect T cells, chemotherapy given to people with cancers or other illnesses, followed by a transplant using stem cells that carry this CCR 5 mutation can change the immune system to make it genetically resistant to HIV.
However, it is important to note that this approach is quite invasive, difficult, and high-risk — therefore still not the best strategy to treat the ample amounts of people living with HIV around the world. Furthermore, this mutation is extremely rare (only around 1% of the general population), hence having a low chance for a suitable stem cell donor.
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Citation:
"First case of HIV cure in a woman after stem cell transplantation reported at CROI-2022." WHO. Retrived from: https://www.who.int/news/item/24-03-2022-first-case-of-hiv-cure-in-a-woman-after-stem-cell-transplantation-reported-at-croi-2022
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