A 63-year-old man in Norway has become the tenth person worldwide to achieve HIV remission following a stem cell transplant. The case, now known as the 'Oslo patient,' was detailed in a study published in Nature Microbiology.
The patient underwent the procedure to treat myelodysplastic syndrome, a type of blood cancer. Researchers sought a donor with the CCR5-delta 32 mutation, which naturally prevents the virus from entering CD4 T-cells.
After the transplant, the patient stopped antiretroviral therapy two years later. Four years after discontinuing medication, doctors found no detectable trace of the virus in his system.
Researchers from the Oslo University Hospital and the IrsiCaress AIDS Research Institute (IrsiCaixa) in Barcelona led the study. The transplant used cells from the patient's brother, who unexpectedly carried the necessary mutation.
A milestone for HIV eradication strategies
While the transplant process is highly aggressive and not suitable for the general HIV population, the case provides critical data for future therapies. Most people living with HIV currently maintain a high quality of life and near-normal life expectancy through standard treatments.
"These milestones allow us to better understand how cure occurs and move toward strategies that are applicable to all people with HIV," said researcher María Salgado of IrsiCaixa.
Salgado noted that the patient's age is particularly significant. At 63, he is one of the oldest individuals to undergo this treatment, suggesting that a cure may not be limited by age or health status.
Javier Martínez-Picado, a scientist at IrsiCaixa and coordinator of the IciStem 2.0 consortium, stated that reaching ten patients in remission is the result of over a decade of international research.
Data from the ten cases shows that donors with two copies of the mutation are most effective at inducing remission. However, some patients achieved remission with only one copy or none, likely due to potent natural killer cells eliminating the hidden virus.
Researchers are now looking toward more accessible therapies. IrsiCaixa is investigating CAR-T cell therapy, which modifies a patient's own immune cells to recognize and destroy HIV. Other teams are exploring gene therapies to induce the CCR5-delta 32 mutation in patients.
