Multiple Sclerosis

Patients receiving treatment of relapse-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) progressed significantly slower than predicted, leading investigators to suggest that RRMS treatment is both clinically and cost-effective.

The results from 3 studies demonstrate the efficacy of teriflunomide on reducing relapses across a range of patients, including those with early and relapsing multiple sclerosis

Patients with primary and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) showed improvements in standard measures of physical and neurologic disability after taking high doses of biotin (300 mg daily) for 1 year, according to results of a phase 3 clinical trial presented at the 2015 annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

Results of a new study suggest that the rate of peripheral CD4 replenishment after the administration of alemtuzumab, a lymphocyte-depleting anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody, does not correlate with multiple sclerosis (MS) activity in patients with relapsing-remitting MS.

Philadelphia, PA—Achieving no evidence of disease activity (NEDA) in the treatment of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) is a clinically meaningful goal, but a strategy to achieve it remains untested, said Robert Bermel, MD, a neurologist at the Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis, the Cleveland Clinic, at the 2014 American Academy of Neurology meeting.

Philadelphia, PA—A systematic literature review conducted by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) shows that certain forms of medical marijuana can be useful to treat some symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), but the evidence is insufficient to support its use in other neurologic diseases, and there are a number of safety concerns with medical marijuana.

Philadelphia, PA—Extending the dosing interval of natalizumab to every 6 to 8 weeks may lower the risk for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) without affecting efficacy in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Philadelphia, PA—Estriol may represent a future novel treatment option for patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). In a phase 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-­controlled trial of women with RRMS, estriol, given with glatiramer acetate, reduced the relapse rate by almost 50% with only 1 year of treatment and improved cognition, reported Rhonda Voskuhl, MD, Director of the MS program, University of California, Los Angeles, at the 2014 meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

A team of neurologists have proposed a new algorithm to help clinicians determine which patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) may be suitable for first-line treatment with natalizumab.