American doctors cure a woman of HIV for the first time, the third in the world

An American became the third person and first woman possibly cured of HIV, after undergoing a stem cell transplant from a donor with natural resistance to the virus that causes AIDS, a novel treatment that can open up options for a cure to more people.

This was announced this Tuesday during a conference held in Denver (Colorado, USA) by the team of specialists who treated her in New York. The patient, as they explained, has not had detectable levels of HIV for fourteen months despite having stopped treatment with antiretrovirals, so it is considered free of the virus and will be considered cured if there are no changes.

This would make her the third person in the world to be cured of the virus and the first woman, since the two known cases so far were men. The one known as “New York Patient”to maintain her anonymity, is a woman of mixed race (father and mother of different race) and who was first diagnosed with HIV and then with leukemia.

The woman received a transplant stem cells from an umbilical cordsupplemented with adult cells donated by a relative.

The technique is similar to that used in the case of the two known cures so far, which is based on the use of stem cells from individuals who have a genetic mutation that makes them resistant to HIV, but according to experts the use of cells from an umbilical cord instead of an adult donor is considered a major potential advance.

According to the scientists, using blood from an umbilical cord does not require the same level of donor-recipient compatibility that is required for adult cells, which may make this type of treatment beneficial to more people.

In any case, experts warn that the cure for HIV through stem cell transplants is still limiting for now to cases in which the patient suffers from cancer or another serious illness that justifies a very complex and potentially fatal procedure.

As Deborah Persaud, the specialist at Johns Hopkins University who directs the program within which this research has been carried out, told NBC channel, stem cell therapy “remains a feasible strategy for only a handful of the millions of people living with HIV”.

The team responsible for the treatment at a New York hospital also highlighted the importance of the “New York Patient” being a person of mixed race, since the genetic mutation that makes someone resistant to the virus usually occurs in white peoplewhich until now has made it difficult to find compatible donors for people of other races.