Although the patient's name was kept confidential, the research showed that he is 53 years old and was given an HIV diagnosis in 2008.
A third person with HIV has been successfully treated by scientists. The patient known only as “the Düsseldorf patient” was given a stem cell transplant that also treated his leukaemia, curing him of the potentially fatal condition. Acute myeloid leukaemia, a blood malignancy that can be fatal, was discovered in him three years later.
Before, the high-risk technique successfully treated two more individuals. The two illnesses also afflicted the patients in Berlin and London.
The Düsseldorf patient cured of HIV
In the journal Nature Medicine, specifics of the most recent success story, also known as the Düsseldorf patient, have been made public.
Although the patient’s name was kept confidential, the research showed that he is 53 years old and was given an HIV diagnosis in 2008. Acute myeloid leukaemia, a blood malignancy that can be fatal, was discovered in him three years later.
This third example of HIV-1 cure, according to the report, offers important information that, one hopes, will direct future cure methods.
A bone marrow transplant employing stem cells from a female donor who had an unique mutation in her CCR5 gene was performed on the Düsseldorf patient in 2013. This gene mutation, according to AFP, has been shown to prevent HIV from entering cells.
The procedure performed, a bone marrow transplant, is difficult and risky. Therefore, it is only appropriate for a small number of individuals with HIV and blood cancer or certain rare circumstances. The search for a bone marrow donor who has the rare gene mutation is another obstacle in this treatment.
Parvathy Sukumaran 
