City of Hope Patient: Elderly Man Allegedly Recovers from HIV Following Stem Cell Treatment in Los Angeles

An elderly man known as the "City of Hope patient" potentially recovered from HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) after a stem cell transplant intended as both a leukemia and HIV treatment, according to reports. The 66-year-old man got his name from a medical center in Los Angeles, California, where he was treated and was first diagnosed with the virus back in 1988.

The patient was taking the conventional medications against the disease for three decades, being only able to control it but not fully curing it. Then, the man suddenly developed acute myelogenous leukemia, also known as acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a cancer affecting the body's blood and bone marrow.

Reports indicate that the man's medical team conducted a blood stem cell transplant, containing cells from a donor who carried a rare genetic mutation called homozygous CCR5 delta 32. The mutation is known for altering the entryway or pathway, which the HIV uses to invade the body's infection-fighting white blood cells.

Since then, the patient has not exhibited any signs of HIV replication in his body since he stopped taking the antiretroviral medications for the condition. However, the team is still monitoring his condition and will reportedly announce him as officially cute at a later yet unspecified date. If it becomes successful, he will be the fifth known HIV recoveree in the world.

City of Hope Patient

In a statement on Wednesday, July 27, the City of Hope announced its patient has achieved HIV remission for more than 17 months already after stopping taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) after receiving the said transplant from an unrelated leukemia donor.

The news release was revealed by Jana Dickter, M.D., an associate clinical professor at the City of Hope during the 2022 International AIDS Conference in the city of Montreal in Quebec, Canada, as cited by the Business Wire media company.

The City of Hope patient also attainted leukemia remission following the stem cell treatment. The medical center is known as one of the largest organizations in the field of cancer research and treatment across the United States.

HIV Recoveree

NBC News mentions of another case presented at the Montreal conference in the field of advanced HIV cure science, which revealed that getting rid of all copes of HIV is possible and causing long-term remission.

In addition to the case of the American patient, Spanish researchers believe that a woman HIV patient who received an "immune-boosting regimen" in 2006 has remained in control of the virus, in what they called as viral remission, as reported by the US media outlet.

HIV, which leads to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), is a pathogenic virus that mainly attacks the body's immune system, making the individual vulnerable to foreign invaders and other external elements that threatens one's health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC retains there is still no effective cure against HIV at this time.

This means that once a person has the virus for life once infected through body fluids, including blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk, according to the World Health Organization.