#ECTRIMS2016 – Here’s my Pick of Friday’s Best at the Congress

Friday carries on the ECTRIMS congress’s style of so much going on that it must be difficult for delegates to decide which sessions to attend and which ones they can afford to miss. Of course, not everyone can make the same choice but, having delved into the agenda, here is my pick of the best of today’s highlights.

Today, two satellite symposia, an interesting congress session, and three “hot topics” stand out.

The first satellite symposium is “The evolving management of relapsing MS.” This includes: “Current treatment targets,” by G. Comi, of Milan, Italy; “Unmet patient needs,” by E. Havrdová, of Prague, Czech Republic; and “Future therapeutic options,” by J.A. Cohen, of Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.  The symposium is supported by Celgene.

The second seems even more interesting. It is “Brain volume loss and disability in MS: What are the clinical implications?” H. Wiendl, of Münster, Germany, is presenting “Understanding mechanism of action in the context of patient outcomes,” then B. Singer, of St. Louis, Miss., U.S., is addressing “Preserving brain and function: What it means to patients.” The symposium is supported by Sanofi Genzyme.

Another subject worthy of attention is “New directions in progressive MS research.” This includes six amazing presentations: “The evolving understanding of pathogenic mechanisms of progressive MS,” by C. Stadelmann, of Göttingen, Germany; “Unblocking the bottleneck – better trial design in progressive multiple sclerosis,” by J. Chataway, of London, U.K.; “Molecular-based diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and its progressive stage,” by P. Kosa, of Bethesda, Md, U.S.; “A new rodent model of progressive demyelination and neurodegeneration mimicking progressive MS,” by S. Nessler, of Göttingen, Germany; “Synaptic loss in the MS spinal cord: a key driver of disease progression?” by N. Petrova, of London, U.K.; and “Lipoic acid for neuroprotection in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis: results of a randomized placebo-controlled pilot trial,” by R.I. Spain, of Portland, Ore., U.S.

Pick of the Best Hot Topics

The three hop topics I would pick start with “B-cell depletion therapy: a panacea for MS?” In this, “B-cell mediated pathogenic mechanisms in MS” is presented by A. Bar-Or, of Montreal, Canada; “Clinical trials and role of B-cell depletion therapy in relapsing-remitting MS,” by S. Hauser, of San Francisco, Calif., U.S.; and “Clinical trials and role of B-cell depletion therapy in progressive MS,” by B. Hemmer, of Munich, Germany.

My second hot topic is “Recent advances in imaging MS”. This covers: “Network analysis in MS through in vivo imaging,” by P. Tewarie, of Amsterdam, Netherlands; “PET imaging of cellular and molecular abnormalities in MS,” by B. Stankoff, of Paris, France; and “Distinguishing the brain MRI features of MS, AQP4- and MOG-antibody disease,” by M. Jurynczyk, of Oxford, U.K.

Finally, I would pick the hot topic “CSF biomarkers can predict the course of MS and response to treatment.” G. Giovannoni, of London, U.K. is speaking in favor, while A.E. Miller, of New York, U.S. is against. The topic is rounded off by a paper titled “High cerebrospinal fluid chitinase-3 like protein 1 levels increase the risk of conversion from radiologically isolated syndrome to clinically definite multiple sclerosis,” by E. Thouvenot, of Nîmes, France.

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