She could be “the first case in France”: a patient being monitored in Marseille could potentially be cured of HIV

A patient followed by the Human Immunodeficiency Information and Care Center (CISIH) at Sainte-Marguerite Hospital in Marseille could represent the first case of HIV remission in France and the eighth in the world.

A patient with HIV may be potentially cured at Sainte-Marguerite Hospital in Marseille, according to a press release from the Marseille University Hospitals.

The first case in France ?

The patient, monitored by the Human Immunodeficiency Information and Care Center (CISIH) at Sainte-Marguerite Hospital in Marseille, “could represent the first case of functional remission of HIV cure in France after an allogeneic bone marrow transplant”, the press release explains.

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Aged around sixty, she was diagnosed with HIV in 1999. Despite effective antiretroviral treatments from 2010, she developed acute myeloid leukemia in 2020, which was treated with an allogeneic bone marrow transplant performed at the Paoli-Calmettes Institute in July 2020.

The donor had a rare genetic mutation (Delta 32) on the CCR5 gene, preventing HIV from entering cells.

The patient then continued her antiretroviral treatment for three years before stopping it in October 2023. Since then, she has been monitored very regularly by her doctor. Virological tests subsequently carried out by the patient were negative.

Seven cases worldwide

The results of this case were presented at international conferences in Munich and Glasgow in 2024. They open up new perspectives for research on the virus, reports the document.

To date, only seven cases of functional cure of HIV after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, aimed at treating lymphoma or leukemia, have been reported worldwide. For six of them, the donor carried the Delta 32 mutation on the CCR5 receptor.

The seventh was the “Geneva patient” for whom his stem cell transplant to treat his leukemia in 2018 did not come from a donor carrying the CCR5 mutation. On the contrary, the donor's stem cells allowed HIV to reproduce. But 20 months after his antiretroviral treatment, the virus was still undetectable.