NEWS - New MS treatment reduces relapse rate by 90%

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New Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Reduces Relapse Rate By 90%

Main Category: Multiple Sclerosis News

Article Date: 22 Jul 2006 - 14:00pm (PDT)

Multiple Sclerosis patients who receive a brief course of Mitoxantrone, and

then Cupaxone, experience a reduced relapse rate of 90%, according to a

five-year study carried out at The Walton Centre for Neurology, Liverpool,

UK. A further ten controlled studies are being launched at 10 centres in the

UK. A reduced relapse rate of 90% means the difference between being

bedridden and holding down a job and actively raising a family for many MS

patients.

You can read about this study in the Journal of Neurology, August issue.

Mitoxantrone is used for treating cancer patients, it is so powerful that it

can only be used for a short time. Copaxone is a slow-acting

disease-moderating drug for MS patients. In this study, doctors decided to

overlap the treatments because they wanted to give some time for copaxone to

build up its effect.

Head researcher, Dr Mike Boggild, said " This regime has proved remarkably

effective. Though there are certain risks, associated particularly with use

of Mitoxantrone, we have been able to limit these by using this agent for

just a short induction period. Balanced against the high risk of early

disability for these patients, the outcomes appear to justify this

approach. "

Dr. Boggild started treating with Ayres, 28, in 2002. Ayres has

MS. Since 2002 she has not suffered any relapses at all. Ayres said she came

to see Dr. Boggild during her second relapse. She was unable to walk or feed

herself - she was barely able to wave her hand. A few weeks after treatment

started she walked out of the rehab centre unaided. She says that since the

beginning of this treatment she has managed to lead a completely normal

life - she has travelled to five continents and is currently doing a PhD in

Psychology at Leeds University, UK.

Ayres was one of 27 patients treated during this open trial. Many of them

experienced similar remarkable reductions in relapses.

This study was not a controlled one. This means there was not one group of

patients on the drug treatment compared to another group on a placebo. The

ten new studies are controlled ones.

The treatment does have potentially serious side-effects, including

leukaemia and cardiac problems. However, for many MS patients, it is still

worth the risk.

Journal of Neurology

Written by: Christian Nordqvist

Editor: Medical News Today

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=47895

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