“Why don’t we just make some more T-4 cells and replace the ones that have been killed by HIV?” This is a frequent question from audience members when I explain that AIDS is primarily the result of HIV’s having destroyed too many T4 (or CD4) cells, a critical immune system manager. Unfortunately, I must answer, we don’t know how to grow this particular cell in the laboratory.
Last week, however, it was announced that researchers at the Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle have devised a method to isolate specific T-cells from a patient’s blood and grow large amounts in the laboratory, which could then be replaced into the patient. This is a major step forward for medical science with many possible applications beyond HIV disease.
Of course, there are still many hurdles. For example, the cells grown would be usable only by that patient. Even so, with the ability to grow billions of T-cells, an even greater immune response could be mounted than could naturally be achieved by the body itself.
This is great stuff in the lab, but at present such a process would be too expensive for real-life medicine, so there is still much work to do. Nonetheless, this is one of the most exciting advances in medical research in years.
— Sandy Bartlett, Community Information/Education Coordinator
AIDS Services of Austin
This article appears in November 13 • 1998 and November 13 • 1998 (Cover).