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Norway Man Cured of HIV With Brother's Stem Cells

(Wednesday April 15, 2026 @11:00AM (BeauHD) from the brotherly-love dept.)


A 63-year-old man in Norway appears to be cured of HIV after [1]receiving a stem cell transplant from his brother , who turned out to have a rare mutation that makes immune cells resistant to HIV. "Four years after the transplant, and two years after the man stopped antiretroviral therapy, he still appears to be free of the infection," reports Gizmodo. From the report:

> According to the report, the man was first diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a type of cancer that weakens blood cell production from bone marrow, in 2018. Though he seemed to initially respond to treatment, the cancer returned after two years, and doctors decided to perform a stem cell transplant. Because the man also had HIV (diagnosed in 2006), the doctors were hoping to treat both conditions at once, though they knew their chances were low. Most of these cases have involved the use of stem cells taken from people with two copies of a particular mutation in their CCR5 gene, which regulates the CC5R receptor on white blood cells. This mutation, named CCR5-delta 32, makes immune cells naturally resistant to infection from strains of HIV-1 (the most common type of the virus). However, only about 1% of the population carries two copies of the mutation.

>

> After initial screening failed to find someone who both possessed the mutation and had compatible bone marrow, the doctors decided to move ahead with the man's brother, who was already known to have compatible bone marrow. But to everyone's surprise, testing on the day of the transplant showed that the brother also had the mutation. Though the man did experience some complications from the procedure, his body successfully started to produce new blood cells with the mutation. The doctors decided to take him off antiretroviral medication two years after the transplant. And in the two years since then, regular follow-up tests have failed to show any signs of the virus in his system. [...] According to [2]AFP , there have only been roughly 10 cases worldwide involving an HIV cure through stem cell transplantation. This is the first to involve a family donor.



[1] https://gizmodo.com/norway-man-cured-of-hiv-with-brothers-stem-cells-2000746285

[2] https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20260413-norwegian-effectively-cured-of-hiv-after-transplant-from-brother


Are they X-men? (Score:2)

by jfdavis668 ( 1414919 )

The mutants are coming

Neat case report, probably cannot scale (Score:3)

by necro81 ( 917438 )

This is a neat case report, and could well point HIV researchers in interesting directions.

But before popping the champagne, keep in mind this treatment is not going to scale to a large population.

1) It involves a bone marrow transplant. Usually you first have to kill the marrow that's in the host, usually by irradiating them. Not only is this dangerous and expensive, it leaves the host without a functioning immune system for weeks (until the donor marrow takes hold). During that time, the patient must kept in isolation to avoid infection. This is a heavy risk, even for someone with HIV. (Most folks with well-controlled HIV have a functioning, though compromised, immune system.)

2) Anything that mentions "stem cell therapy" will immediately be out of a price range for most folks, insurance companies, or national health providers. It's increasingly widespread, but still bespoke for each patient - not at all like cranking out generic aspirin for a few cents.

Interested to hear about the complications (Score:1)

by tatroc ( 6301818 )

What were the complications ?

This is not an offer to sell securities.