This week's news that a third person has been "cured" of HIV through a unique transplant of stem cells has given hope for a larger-scale way to beat back the HIV epidemic that has plagued the world for decades.
But while this case is certainly cause for celebration, experts involved in the effort say we are still a long way from a universal cure.
Researcher Yvonne Bryson, MD, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at UCLA, told those attending a conference on infectious diseases Tuesday that this case is special. The patient was a woman living with HIV who is multiracial. The previous two patients were men: one white, one Latino.
The woman in this case was given transplants of stem cells and umbilical cord blood to treat leukemia. The treatment not only sent her cancer into remission, but her HIV as well.
The success of this case suggests that cord stem cell transplants should be considered to produce remission and cure for those with HIV who also have cancers and other diseases, the researchers say.
While the news was met with excitement in the scientific community, the approach will not be available universally, since the transplants were all done to treat cancers in the three HIV-infected patients.