Geneva patient has HIV remission after bone marrow transplant!

The Geneva patient, the name by which a man became known after showing signs of HIV remission. The situation occurred in the long term after he underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat cancer, for the first time a bone marrow without mutations capable of blocking the HIV virus was used.

_{Drawing demonstrating what a bone marrow transplant would look like (Photo: reproduction/Secretary of Health of the Federal District)}

According to the scientists, this feat is a great novelty and brings great contributions to the progress of research in search of HIV remission. The information was presented this Thursday (07/20) in Brisbane, Australia. The report was presented to the society three days before the Conference of the International AIDS Society, which begins next Sunday in the country.

It is not the first time that a patient has gone into remission after receiving a bone marrow transplant.

Five people in previous cases would have already been considered cured of the HIV virus, these patients had the same situation in common, all would have cancer cells in their blood and when they received the new stem cells through the transplant, the immune systems of these people were renewed.

In previous cases, the chosen donor had a rare mutation in a gene called CCRs delta 32, this mutation is responsible for preventing HIV from entering cells.

The Geneva patient presents a different situation from previous cases, in 2018 in an attempt to treat leukemia the boy received a stem cell transplant. The donor does not have the CCRs mutation responsible for blocking the virus, twenty months after stopping the use of the antiretroviral, the virus remains undetectable in the patient’s body.

The man suspended treatment in November 2021 and continues without the presence of infection, scientists do not rule out the possibility that the virus is still present in the patient’s cells, but the situation is seen as a form of remission of the disease.

O Geneva patient was not the only one to receive stem cells without the gene mutation CCRs

Two patients known as the Boston patients received stem cell transplants without the gene mutation. A few months after the two had stopped treatment with the antiretroviral, the virus manifested itself again in their bodies. This would have occurred because HIV would be in a state of dormancy, making it impossible for the virus to manifest itself in the body.

Scientists say that if the infection does not manifest itself in the next 12 months, there is a great possibility that the virus will remain detectable in the future.

Featured photo: HIV test. Reproduction/Getty Images/UOL