April 17, 2020 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Study of Stem Cell Therapy for Highly Active RRMS Honored by CR Forum The MISTĀ Phase 2 clinical trial, supporting the potential of hematopoietic (blood cell-producing)Ā stem cell transplant (HSCT) to significantly slow disability progression in highly activeĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS)Ā patients, has received a Distinguished Clinical Research Achievement Award from the Clinical Research (CR) Forum. Five years after the transplant, most…
January 25, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: HSCT vs. DMTs, Mindfulness for MS, Ocrevus and T-cells, Pregnancy Guidelines Blood Stem Cell Transplant Better than DMTs at Reducing Risk of Disease Progression in RRMS Here’s more evidence that hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) works better than some disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) at reducing multiple sclerosis (MS) progression. In this study, only three of 52 patients in the…
January 18, 2019 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Blood Stem Cell Transplant Better than DMTs at Reducing Risk of Disease Progression in RRMS Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant is better than disease-modifying therapies (DMT) at reducing the risk of disease progression in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), results from the MIST clinical trial show. The study āEffect of Nonmyeloablative Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation vs Continued Disease-Modifying Therapy on Disease Progression…
February 14, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Stem Cell Treatment for MS: Can’t We Move Any Faster? There is some good news about stem cell therapy. A just-published study concludes that one form of human stem cell therapy is more effective at treating multiple sclerosis than the best of the MS medications being used currently. The not-so-good news is that approval of this…
January 5, 2017 Columns by admin Phoebeās HSCT Story: Back home (Last in a Series) Phoebe Scopes was the first international patient to receive Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) therapy for multiple sclerosis in Moscow. In this fourth, and last, part of her story, we join Phoebe on her return home to the London. Ian: What is your post-HSCT MS state from getting home…
December 15, 2016 Columns by admin Phoebe Scopes, British HSCT Pioneer in Moscow, Part 2 Last week, I introduced you to Phoebe Scopes, the very first MS patient from another country to undergoĀ hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in Moscow. Today, in Part 2, Ā we pick up the story of the 46-year-old who lives in London. Ian: So, you had done lots of research. How…
November 3, 2016 Columns by admin HSCT in Moscow, Day by Day Doesnāt time fly? It seems only yesterday that I was preparing to goĀ to Moscow, yet tomorrow will be three weeks since my return. I have written enough about my experiences at the A.A. Maximov center so, today, weāll take a look at how HSCT progresses, step by step. The…
October 18, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias Are the Benefits Worth the Risks of Lemtrada? My neurologist calls Lemtrada “HSCT lite.” Ā She says that not only is the drug able to reduce exacerbations and limit the overall progression of multiple sclerosis, it’s actually reversed some symptoms in some of her patients. Ā I guess I’m going to find out if she’s right about…
September 16, 2016 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD #ECTRIMS2016 – Stem Cell Transplantation Shows High Efficiency A high fraction of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who underwent a transplant with their own bone marrow stem cells after immunosupression therapy, show no signs of disease activity after treatment, according to a new study. The results were presented inĀ a talk, āClinical experience in aggressive multiple sclerosis treatment with…
September 7, 2016 Columns by admin James Received HSCT for Free, as He Lives in the UK Virtually all the talk about availability of HSCT1 as an MS treatment includes the need to travel long distances to other countries, but U.K. residents can receive the treatment in London, avoiding the journey overseas.Ā Whatās more, it is provided through the countryās social National Health Service (NHS) so, like…
August 31, 2016 Columns by admin Welcome or Not, FDA Focuses on Stem Cell Treatments News that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to hold a public hearing next month to consider greater oversight of stem cell clinics operating in the country is as welcome as it is late. I say “late” because, while the regulators have been twiddling their fingers,…
August 17, 2016 Columns by admin New Pre-HSCT Treatment May Be the Future, but HSCT with Lower Dose Chemo is Right Choice for MS Patients Now News that scientists in the U.S. are working to find a new pre-HSCT treatment to carry out stem cell transplants without the need for chemotherapy, as published in Multiple Sclerosis News Today, leaves me with mixed feelings. While such a development could potentially be great news and an…
July 26, 2016 Columns by admin ‘I am Cured,’ Says Woman with Aggressive Form of MS After Receiving HSCT in Canada An entry in the comments section of Multiple Sclerosis News Today caught my attention a couple of weeks ago, and peaked my interest. It was a personal tale of one woman’sĀ journeyĀ from beingĀ paralyzedĀ and told that her condition was “between you and God” to being able to walk again, thanks to HSCT.
July 1, 2016 Columns by admin MS Patients Want Research to Focus on a Cure, Not Possible Causes As interesting as it can be for patients with MS who hear about work being done to find the causes of multiple sclerosis, what we really want to see is research that is carried out to find a cure. Nothing more, nothing less. Of course, the development of new treatments…
June 10, 2016 Columns by admin MS life expectancy discussed but not all treatments considered When talking about how treatments affect MS life expectancy, itās wrong to leave out HSCT. Sorry, but itās just plain wrong. How can anyone write a supposedly authoritative article about MS and life expectancy, talk about modifying how the disease affects people who have it, yet totally ignore potentially the…
February 2, 2016 News by admin Individual with PPMS Shares His Experience of Undergoing Stem Cell Therapy Geoff Flynn,Ā 42, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) two and a half years ago. As unsettling as that diagnosis was, more troubling ā both then and now ā were the five long years of struggle it took for him to get a proper evaluation as to the cause ofĀ his neurological…
August 4, 2014 News by Patricia Silva, PhD UPDATE: Australian Authorities Warn About Unapproved MS Stem Cell Treatments After Death in Russia Australian authorities are alerting Multiple Sclerosis patients to the risk of unproven stem cell treatments that are being performed both in the country and overseas, after the recent death of a woman in Russia undergoing a controversial treatment for the disease. The continued marketing campaigns to…
May 22, 2014 by Charles Moore Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: MS Breakthrough Treatment Or Another “Liberation Therapy” Disappointment Shaping Up? Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a devastating disease for many who become afflicted with the disease’s progressive form, often in the prime of their lives, with no cure and when the effectiveness of established MS treatment is so often disappointing. Discouragement can lead to pinning premature hope on unproven therapies…