Spanish doctors believe that they have discovered a cure for the immunodeficiency virus. A patient got rid of HIV stem cells transplant of umbilical cord blood.
Ironically, Spanish specialists tried to cure not HIV, but lymphoma - blood cancer, malignant disease of the lymphatic system. Lymphoma often affects people who have HIV (approximately in 10-30% of cases).
The experiment was conducted under the management of Dr. Rafael Duarte, head of the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation program of the Catalan Oncology Institute in Barcelona. The patient was introduced cord blood stem cells from the donor (placenta and baby's umbilical cord) with a mutation that protects against HIV. The experiment was successful.
The next three years the patient did not have and symptoms and signs of HIV. Unfortunately, soon there was a relapse of lymphoma. The cancer started to spread again, and the patient died. It is for this reason that the question of how long stem cells can protect against HIV remains open.
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Last updated: October 18, 2023.
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