Though researchers said that the therapy is still considered extremely risky, the procedure could eventually be part of a therapy that is safe for the masses.
While a risky stem cell therapy has successfully cured the first woman of the human immunodeficiency virus , the procedure is deemed too dangerous to use on the average patient.
However, despite the woman appearing to have been cured, researchers have reiterated that the therapy is still considered extremely risky and has only been tested on patients suffering from end-stage cancers, such as the woman—who had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Experts toldNews that it would even be considered"unethical" to attempt the transplant in an otherwise healthy patient due to its danger.
An experimental stem cell treatment has successfully cured a woman of HIV. However, the procedure is considered extremely risky and potentially dangerous, and as a result it is only being offered to HIV patients with end-stage cancer. Here, stem cells from human bone marrow can be seen under a microscope.
"[The stem cell treatment is] still not a feasible strategy for all but a handful of the millions of people living with HIV," Dr. Deborah Persaud, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University and one of the chairs of the case study, stated. However, Persaud added that, despite this, her team was still"very excited" about the potential future of the treatment.