Two more people appear to be in long-term remission from HIV after receiving stem cell transplants to treat cancer, according to case reports presented at the 26th International AIDS Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The 'Essen patient' was diagnosed with HIV in 2003 and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in 2010. In 2020, he received a stem cell transplant from a donor with two copies of the CCR5-delta32 mutation, which prevents many strains of HIV from entering cells. He stopped antiretroviral treatment 51 months after the transplant, and his HIV viral load has remained undetectable for around 14 months.
The 'Kansas City patient' was diagnosed with HIV in 2018, aged 19, and acute myeloid leukaemia in 2020. He received a stem cell transplant from a donor with two copies of the CCR5-delta32 mutation and subsequently required a second infusion of stem cells from the same donor. He stopped antiretroviral treatment in February 2025 and his HIV viral load has remained undetectable for 17 months.
The cases bring the number of people reported to have achieved sustained HIV remission following stem cell transplantation to 13 (see BioNews 1318, 1133 and 1039).
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