JONESRA%AMBER.decnet@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (REX A. JONES 857-9563) (12/20/89)
I know that this is really recent news, but does anyone have any
information on the case that was announced about the elimination of AIDS
in a patient through a bone marrow transplant? While this is not going to
be a practical treatment for all sufferers, it does offer some more hope
that AIDS can be beaten.
(yes, I do know that the patient did die of the cancer that he contracted
from his case of AIDS)
Thanks.
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"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
--Salvor Hardin
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jonesra@silver.bacs.indiana.edu |One of these sigs should work.
JONESRA%AQUA.decnet@silver.bacs.indiana.edu|This is not an official IU
jonesra@iuqua.bitnet |document. This posting does
jonesra@aqua.bacs.indiana.edu |not reflect the views of IU
|unless by coincidence.bob@ozdaltx.UUCP (bob) (12/21/89)
In article <30142@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>, JONESRA%AMBER.decnet@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (REX A. > I know that this is really recent news, but does anyone have any > I know that this is really recent news, but does anyone have any > information on the case that was announced about the elimination of AIDS > in a patient through a bone marrow transplant? While this is not going to > be a practical treatment for all sufferers, it does offer some more hope > that AIDS can be beaten. I read that the patient had lymphoma (cancer of lymph glands) and that as part of the treatment they killed off his bone marrow (where the new immune system cells come from) with chemotherapy and/or radiation. Then using max doses of AZT to keep HIV replication in check for those cells that might have escaped the bone marrow he was then given the transplant. Yes you read correctly that the patient ended up dying of cancer (I think 40 days later) but that extensive autopsy test results found no HIV in the tissues of brain, bone marrow, etc. The problem is that bone marrow destruction and transplant is risky for non-AIDS patients, and I think it said something like a 25% survival rate. Obviously not the treatament for early diagnoses. That's about all I remember from the newspaper. Yes, there is hope (even small) in this just like the vaccine for SIV in monkeys. But it still looks like a long battle. So much gets reported so hopefully, then no more news. For example, 2 years ago the AIDS Treatment News reported promising results from a Paris study of DHEA. Nothing since then. It seems to always be like this. I try to stay hopeful (with or without news) and just take it all a day at a time, looking for the best in each day. I know that may sound trite, but it is the only way I can avoid getting down when I think about how long this might last. Bob Culmer Dallas, TX
malloy@crash.cts.com (Sean Malloy) (12/21/89)
In article <30142@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> JONESRA%AMBER.decnet@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (REX A. JONES 857-9563) writes: >I know that this is really recent news, but does anyone have any >information on the case that was announced about the elimination of AIDS >in a patient through a bone marrow transplant? While this is not going to >be a practical treatment for all sufferers, it does offer some more hope >that AIDS can be beaten. It was not just a bone marrow transplant; it was the full leukemia treatment: a heavy regimen of chemotherapy and radiation treatments to kill all of the patient's own bone marrow, followed by a marrow transplant, and treatment with AZafterward. The patient had no signs of HIV-1 in his blood or organs 30 days after the treatment; he died shortly thereafter from cancer. The full procedure in and of itself has about a 25% mortality rate; this is making researchers reluctant to solicit volunteers from AIDS-infected people who are still healthy. Sean Malloy {hplabs!hp-sdd, akgua, ucsd, nosc}!crash!malloy ARPA: crash!malloy@nosc Navy Personnel Research and Development Center San Diego, CA 92152-6800 UUCP: {hplabs!hp-sdd, akgua, ucsd}!nprdc!malloy ARPA: malloy@nprdc.navy.mil
hughM@crdgw1.ge.com (Hugh M Moore) (12/24/89)
In article <30182@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> malloy@crash.cts.com (Sean Malloy) writes: | The patient had no signs of HIV-1 in his blood or organs 30 days after the | treatment; he died shortly thereafter from cancer. Did the patient have cancer as well as AIDS or did the treatment cause cancer? I suspect that your odds of beating cancer are better than beating AIDS right now. -- Hugh Moore ...!uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!hughM [ PhD in '93 ] "A joke isn't funny unless it offends SOMEONE"