CO-DISCOVERED HIV AS THE CAUSE OF IT. >> I DON’T WANT TO THROW COLD WATER ON AN INTERESTING SETF O CLINICAL EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS, BUT IN MY MIND, THIS IS NOT A THING THAT SHOULD HAVE MADE NATIONAL, LET ALONE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES. LISA: DR. ROBERT GALLO DIRECTS THE INSTITUTE OF HUMAN VIROLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND KNOWS HIV. IN 1984, HE CO-DISCOVERED HIV AS THE CAUSE OF AIDS. FAST-FORWARD TO 2022. WE ASKED HIM ABOUT WEDNESDAY’S NEWS THAT A GROUP OF AMERICAN RESEARCERS HAS POSSIBLY TOWARD HIV IN A WOMAN USING POOR BLOOD. >> I LIKE PROCTOR — DR. BRYSON’S COMMENTS WHO SAY I DON’T KNOW IT IS A CURE. THAT WAS VERY CAUTIOUS. I BET IF YOU CONTROLLED HOW THIS WENT OUT, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT. ONCE YOU HEAR THAT WORD AND USE THAT WORD, WHICH I FIND PROBL EMATIC. LI:SA SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH LEUKEMIA FOUR YEARS AFTER AN HIV DIAGNOSIS. CHEMOTHEPYRA DESTROYED HER BLOOD CELLS. SHE UNDERWENT STEM CELL TRANSPLANTS, THE MOST RECENT INVOLVING UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD THAT HAD A MUTATION THAT MAKES CELLS RESISTANT TO HIV INFECTION. DR. GALLO SAYS THIS IS NOT A TREATMENT THAT NONCANCEROUS PEOPLE WITH HIV ARE GOING TO BE USING. >> WHAT GOOD IS THIS GOING TO DO FOR 37 MILLION PEOPLE AFFLICTED WITH HIV? LISA: STI,LL HE SAYS THERE IS A TAKE AWAY. >> IT IS NOT NEW BUT IT IS UNUSUAL, AND IT ADDS TO THE EVIDENCE THAT THIS APPROACH CAN LEAD TO HIV STRGON REPRESSION IF NOT COMPTELE WIPUTEO.
Maryland HIV researcher on latest research: It’s not a cure
Updated: 5:33 PM EST Feb 16, 2022
Scientists used a cutting-edge stem cell transplant method to treat a woman’s HIV, but a lead researcher in Maryland said it’s too soon to celebrate.A U.S. woman is the third known person who is in HIV remission after receiving stem cells from umbilical cord blood, an American research team announced Wednesday.| RELATED: Researchers report third case of HIV remission after stem cell transplant using umbilical cord bloodDr. Robert C. Gallo is the scientist who became world famous in 1984 when he co-discovered HIV as the cause of AIDS.”I don’t want to throw cold water on an interesting set of clinical results, but in my mind, this is not a kind of thing that should have made national, let alone international headlines,” said Gallo, who founded and directs the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.Gallo said he takes issue with the use of the word “cure.””I like one of Dr. (Yvonne) Bryson’s comments, one of the co-authors, who said, ‘I don’t say it’s a cure. I say it’s a remission.’ That was very cautious, and I bet if he controlled how this went out, it would have been a little different, but once you hear that word and they use that word ‘cure,’ which I find problematic,” Gallo said.A U.S. woman was diagnosed with leukemia four years after an HIV diagnosis, and the high-dose chemotherapy destroyed her blood cells.She underwent two stem cell transplants, the most recent involving umbilical cord blood that had a mutation that makes cells resistant to HIV infection.Gallo said this is not a treatment that non-cancerous people with HIV are going to be using.”What good is this going to do the 37 million people infected with HIV? Nothing,” Gallo said.Still, Gallo said there is a takeaway from the research.”It’s not new, but it is unusual and adds evidence that this approach can lead to HIV strong repression, if not complete wipeout, and you would like to learn from it to imitate it by something that is practical,” Gallo said.
BALTIMORE —
Scientists used a cutting-edge stem cell transplant method to treat a woman’s HIV, but a lead researcher in Maryland said it’s too soon to celebrate.
A U.S. woman is the third known person who is in HIV remission after receiving stem cells from umbilical cord blood, an American research team announced Wednesday.
| RELATED: Researchers report third case of HIV remission after stem cell transplant using umbilical cord blood
Dr. Robert C. Gallo is the scientist who became world famous in 1984 when he co-discovered HIV as the cause of AIDS.
“I don’t want to throw cold water on an interesting set of clinical results, but in my mind, this is not a kind of thing that should have made national, let alone international headlines,” said Gallo, who founded and directs the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Gallo said he takes issue with the use of the word “cure.”
“I like one of Dr. (Yvonne) Bryson’s comments, one of the co-authors, who said, ‘I don’t say it’s a cure. I say it’s a remission.’ That was very cautious, and I bet if he controlled how this went out, it would have been a little different, but once you hear that word and they use that word ‘cure,’ which I find problematic,” Gallo said.
A U.S. woman was diagnosed with leukemia four years after an HIV diagnosis, and the high-dose chemotherapy destroyed her blood cells.
She underwent two stem cell transplants, the most recent involving umbilical cord blood that had a mutation that makes cells resistant to HIV infection.
Gallo said this is not a treatment that non-cancerous people with HIV are going to be using.
“What good is this going to do the 37 million people infected with HIV? Nothing,” Gallo said.
Still, Gallo said there is a takeaway from the research.
“It’s not new, but it is unusual and adds evidence that this approach can lead to HIV strong repression, if not complete wipeout, and you would like to learn from it to imitate it by something that is practical,” Gallo said.