Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - 14 Dec 1995
Adam Entous / Reuter

Doctors were expected to carry out the transplant later Thursday, hospital spokeswoman Alice Trinkl said. "He was given radiation" designed to make space in his bone marrow for the new cells, she said. "Things are going according to plan."

The controversial experimental procedure is being attempted because baboons have been found to be resistant to HIV-1, the primary virus causing acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Bone marrow cells from a baboon are to be infused into AIDS patient Jeff Getty at San Francisco General Hospital, which is affiliated with the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). The procedure will be carried out by researchers at UCSF and the University of Pittsburgh.

The infusion, similar to a blood transfusion, takes half an hour and does not require surgery.

"My doctors want to go forward with an experiment that may not save my life but could well lead to a treatment that will save thousands of others," Getty, a 38-year-old resident of Oakland, California said in a statement. "We can't let fears of theoretical risks stop research."

"We recognize that this clinical trial is highly experimental," said UCSF Assistant Professor Steven Deeks, who will be the main doctor caring for Getty. "But we are hopeful that we have a chance to succeed and we should learn a great deal about HIV and the immune system."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the experiment in August. The transplant was originally scheduled for October but was postponed when Getty developed pneumonia.

It will be the first time a bone marrow cell infusion from one species to another, known as a xenotransplant, has been attempted using the specific scientific approach that has been approved for this study, the researchers said.

If the baboon cells join with the patient's bone marrow cells, as the researchers hope, they believe the patient's augmented bone marrow will then produce human immunodeficiency virus-resistant T-cells in the blood. Theoretically, this would increase his ability to ward off opportunistic infections that can be fatal to AIDS patients, they say.

But Deeks emphasized that, even if the infusion is successful and the baboon cells "take," the patient will not be cured and would remain HIV-infected.

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