Minnesota transplant aims at HIV and leukemia

Published April 24, 2013 4:56pm ET



MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Doctors at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital are hoping a cord blood transplant will cure a boy diagnosed with HIV and leukemia.

The 12-year-old boy underwent the transplant Tuesday. Such transplants aren’t unusual as a treatment for leukemia, but doctors are hoping that a genetic mutation in the donor cord blood that guards against HIV infection will lead to a cure for both.

It happened once before, when a man in Germany with both leukemia and HIV got a bone-marrow transplant in 2007.

KARE-TV (http://kare11.tv/15GAaWA ) reports it could be two or three months before doctors know if the transplant is successful.

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Information from: KARE-TV, http://www.kare11.com