Patient achieves HIV and blood cancer remission three decades after HIV diagnosis through stem cell transplant at City of Hope
City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States and BioscienceLA founding sponsor, announced on July 27, 2022 that a 66-year-old man who was diagnosed with HIV in 1988 has been in remission of the virus for over 17 months after stopping antiretroviral therapy (ART) for the disease following a stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor for leukemia, according to research presented today at the AIDS 2022 press conference by Jana K. Dickter, M.D., City of Hope associate clinical professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases. He received the transplant nearly 3 1/2 years ago at City of Hope.
The man, known as the City of Hope patient, lived with HIV for over 31 years, the longest of any of the three previous patients with HIV who have gone into remission for a blood cancer and HIV. He was 63 years old when he received a transplant, the oldest patient to receive a transplant and go into remission for HIV and leukemia.
The patient received a chemotherapy-based, reduced-intensity transplant regimen prior to his transplant that was developed by City of Hope and other transplant programs for treatment of older patients with blood cancers. Reduced-intensity chemotherapy makes the transplant more tolerable for older patients and reduces the potential for transplant-related complications from the procedure.
The patient received a blood stem cell transplant at City of Hope in early 2019 for acute myelogenous leukemia from an unrelated donor who has a rare genetic mutation, homozygous CCR5 Delta 32. That mutation makes people who have it resistant to acquiring HIV. CCR5 is a receptor on CD4+ immune cells, and HIV uses that receptor to enter and attack the immune system. But the CCR5 mutation blocks that pathway, which stops HIV from replicating.
The City of Hope patient has not shown any evidence of having replicating HIV virus since the transplant. He stopped taking ART for HIV in March 2021. He might have been able to stop the therapies sooner but wanted to wait until he was vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We are proud to have played a part in helping the City of Hope patient reach remission for both HIV and leukemia. It is humbling to know that our pioneering science in bone marrow and stem cell transplants, along with our pursuit of the best precision medicine in cancer, has helped transform this patient’s life,” said Robert Stone, president and CEO of City of Hope and the Helen and Morgan Chu Chief Executive Officer Distinguished Chair. “The entire team at City of Hope is honored to make a difference every day in the lives of people with cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases.”
“We were thrilled to let him know that his HIV is in remission and he no longer needs to take antiretroviral therapy that he had been on for over 30 years,” Dickter said. “He saw many of his friends die from AIDS in the early days of the disease and faced so much stigma when he was diagnosed with HIV in 1988. But now, he can celebrate this medical milestone.”
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