The Associated Press - Wednesday, December 11, 1996 - 10:47 P.M.
Michelle Locke, Associated Press Writer

In June, six months after receiving a transplant of baboon bone marrow, he headed back to the 2,500-foot trail.

"I went all the way to the top of the mountain. It blew me away," he said.

As he nears the anniversary of the Dec. 14, 1995, transplant, Getty is celebrating "the best year I've had in about 5 years." He's gained 15 pounds, lost his chronic asthma, skin rashes and lung infections and built up rock-solid biceps.

But Getty is quick to point out his recovery probably has little to do with the baboon cells that prompted so much debate over the moral and medical implications of cross-species transplants.

Baboons don't get AIDS. The idea behind the transplant was that the AIDS-resistant baboon stem cells might take root in Getty's bone marrow to produce AIDS-fighting immune-system cells.

That didn't happen. Baboon cells were found in Getty's body for only two weeks after the transplant.

Getty, who said he felt his breathing improve "the moment I walked away from the radiation table," credits his turnaround mainly to the radiation phase of the treatment and a new class of drugs called protease inhibitors that have revolutionized AIDS treatment.

"That's probably really what we've learned here. We've learned that chemotherapy and radiation which they feared would ... kill anybody with late stage AIDS was in fact probably the most beneficial thing I've done in 5 years," Getty said.

Skeptics say they're happy Getty is doing well, but they doubt it has anything to do with the transplant.

"I think it's very early days for this approach," said Dr. Thomas Merigan, director of the Center for AIDS Research at Stanford University. He believes protease inhibitors should get most of the credit for Getty's recovery.

The doctors involved in the transplant did not return calls for comment from The Associated Press.

Dr. Steven Deeks, who performed the transplant at San Francisco General Hospital, told The Oakland Tribune he thinks the radiation probably had a beneficial effect, and he plans to follow up with more research.

His collaborator, Dr. Suzanne Ildstad, told the newspaper she thinks baboon cells may have briefly attacked the virus or "taught" Getty's own immune cells how to fight HIV.

Getty said: "There's no disputing that clinically I got a lot better, and the other thing that we discovered is that I don't have a baboon disease that we know of."

The fear that cross-species transplants would unleash animal diseases on the human population had been a major objection to Getty's surgery. Animal rights groups also protested.

Merigan said Getty's case doesn't predict how the next cross-species transplant might turn out. "It's going to take a lot of experience where you're sure you're not going to have problems," he said.

On the animal rights front, Martin Stephens of the U.S. Humane Society said the lack of baboon cells in Getty's body vindicates critics. "We're happy for him, but at least one baboon is dead for no apparent good," he said.

But supporters call his pursuit of cutting-edge treatment a brave and significant fight.

"People like Jeff and some of the treatment folks at our agency have really, I think, moved the whole treatment arena into a completely different world," said Derek Gordon, director of communications for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Getty, a former University of California policy analyst, became an AIDS activist in the mid-1980s when he discovered he had the disease.

He continues to look for new treatments. A bottle of pills marked for experimental use sits on his kitchen table, and he's campaigning to speed up development of two more drugs.

As for the future, he now plans two or three months in advance. His old limit was a week or two.

"I'm very very hopeful now," he said. "Not just for me, but for everybody."

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