Two HIV-positive men cleared of virus after bone morrow transplant, researchers say (ABC)

View Comments ABC Professor David Cooper says the two HIV positive patients who have been cleared of virus are being closely monitored.

Two HIV-positive men have been cleared of the virus after a bone marrow transplant, Australian researchers report

The patients, who want to remain anonymous, were treated at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital and have undetectable levels of HIV.

University of NSW Kirby Institute's Professor David Cooper says the results herald a new direction in HIV research.

"We are so pleased that both patients are doing reasonably well years after the treatment for the cancers and remain free of the cancer and virus," Professor Cooper said.

While both men were cleared of the virus, they remain on antiretroviral therapy as a protective measure.

In one case, the patient had a successful bone marrow transplant for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. His donor had one of two possible copies of a gene that gives protection against HIV.

But in the second case, the man had a bone marrow transplant for acute myeloid leukaemia with a donation that did not have the gene protecting against HIV.

Bone marrow transplants not the cure for HIV/AIDS

The results are being presented at a research symposium into a cure for HIV, which is part of the 20th International AIDS conference in Melbourne.

Until this research, the only person considered to have cleared HIV is an American man, Timothy Ray Brown, who had bone marrow transplants in 2007 and 2008.

His donor had both copies of the gene protects against HIV. 

Mr Brown was able to stop antiretroviral therapy and remains clear of virus.  But when two patients in Boston had transplants without the gene mutation, the virus returned after antiretroviral treatment ceased.

Experts stress while the Sydney results are significant, bone marrow transplants are not a cure for HIV, as it remains a costly and potentially dangerous procedure.

The two Sydney patients are being closely monitored to see if there is any residual virus and how it can be controlled.

Professor Cooper says working out where the remains of the virus are hiding has become the big scientific question in HIV/AIDS research.

"It will be essential to understand in order to achieve a cure," Professor Cooper said.

Researchers say the results offer new hope for HIV-positive people with leukaemia and lymphoma.

"For the time being, the Sydney results mean more people who are suitable for bone marrow transplants could participate in clinical trials," said Dr Kersten Koelsch from the UNSW Kirby Institute.

AIDS conference delegates among plane crash victims

Thousands of HIV researchers, advocates and journalists from 200 countries will be in Melbourne from July 20 to 25 for AIDS 2014, the largest health conference ever hosted in Australia.

This year's conference has been marred by the deaths of scores delegates on board the Malaysia Airlines jet that was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

About 100 of the 298 people killed on the downed jet were heading to the AIDS conference, including researchers, health workers, activists and people living with HIV

International AIDS Society president and Nobel laureate Francoise Barre-Sinousi has told the National Press Club in Canberra the loss of life is difficult to comprehend.

"We are all with our phones waiting for confirmation and hoping that it cannot be confirmed," she said.

Next of kin are still being informed, but Dutch HIV researcher and former IAS president Dr Joep Lange and his wife and collaborator Jacqueline van Tongeren are among those killed. 

"It will be a great loss for the HIV/AIDS community," Professor Barré-Sinousi said.

"It will be a terrible loss for all of us. I have no words really to try to express my sadness. I feel totally devastated if it is confirmed. 

"This is really someone special. It's a giant for us."

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