Is is possible to cure AIDS patients by using white blood cells of blood cancer, by fooling HIV to attack a false target?
Is it possible to wrap HIV in a physical boundary, such that it has no interaction out side the wrapper, so the functionality of the cell will not be affected by HIV?. Since all cells in out body are replaced within three years, after 3 years, the HIV affected victim will have fresh HIV free cells.
Answer
What would you choose when your treating physician gives you the option: leukemia or antiviral treatment? HIV is not lethal anymore these days, at the least life expectancy can be substantially prolonged. Admittedly, treatment is life long and not a cure, but you'll live.
Leukemia on the other hand, is life threatening and needs immediate treatment. Treatments for leukemia are primarily chemotherapy, and perhaps radiation therapy, biological therapy, targeted therapy, and stem cell transplant, all of which are by no means guaranteed to be curative.
But interestingly: a Berlin leukemia patient with HIV was actually cured after receiving chemotherapy and having received HIV-resistant stem cells to repopulate his white blood cells (Source: Medicine Net). The donor carried the relatively rare mutation called CCR5delta32. People with this mutation lack functional CCR5, the protein that HIV most often uses to enter cells.
Why is this not a standard treatment? The Berlin patient serves as a good example, because the patient suffered intestinal and neurological symptoms due to the chemotherapy. And besides being dangerous in itself, chemo is truly a grueling experience to go through. And in fact, this patient was the only instance in which this approach was followed (Source: Medicine Net).
No comments:
Post a Comment