disability progression

Nearly two-thirds of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who underwent a stem cell transplant showed no signs of confirmed disability progression five years later, according to a study tracking MS patients in the U.K. The results were generally better for people with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), but nearly half…

Sanofi‘s oral BTK inhibitor tolebrutinib significantly delayed the onset of six-month confirmed disability progression compared with a placebo, by 31%, in people with nonrelapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). That’s according to recently published data from the HERCULES Phase 3 trial (NCT04411641), where the experimental therapy…

Treatment with Tysabri (natalizumab) may help delay disability progression in people with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) over Rebif (interferon beta-1a), an analysis of data from two clinical trials suggests. While the trials initially failed to demonstrate slowing disease progression, a significant benefit was observed when accounting…

A group of manufactured chemicals called hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls, or OH-PCBs, which persist in the environment despite a ban on production, are associated with an increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study. In turn, another family of compounds highly resistant to environmental breakdown, called…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who eat more fish are significantly less likely to see confirmed disability progression and the greater the intake, the lower the progression risk, a study in Sweden finds. The dietary habits of patients were assessed at the time of their diagnosis and disability progression…

A specific type of brain lesion called a paramagnetic rim lesion, or PRL, is associated with worse disability over time in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), but available disease-modifying therapies (DMT) can lower the chances of the appearance of these lesions, according to two studies published by scientists…

The rate of disability progression among people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) has slowed over the years due to advances in disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), according to a long-term analysis. Patients diagnosed in recent decades have experienced fewer progression events associated with relapses, called relapse-associated worsening (RAW), and also…

Anti-CD20 therapies like Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and rituximab appear to be ineffective at slowing disability progression in people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), a form of the disease characterized by symptoms that steadily worsen over time, according to data from a real-world study in France. The study,…

Treatment with the investigational BTK inhibitor tolebrutinib significantly delayed the onset of confirmed disability progression in people with nonrelapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) compared with a placebo, meeting the primary goal of the HERCULES Phase 3 trial. A preliminary analysis of liver safety was consistent with previous…

People with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who drink low to moderate amounts of alcohol have significantly less disability progression in the years following diagnosis than non-drinkers, a study found. The trend was especially pronounced among women. Although the findings suggest that drinking alcohol may have beneficial effects in some…

A machine learning algorithm may be able to accurately predict whether or not people with multiple sclerosis (MS) will experience a worsening of disability in the near term — which may help tailor treatment decisions and improve patient quality of life — according to the findings of a new…

Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) continued to prevent disability progression among people with relapsing and progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) over 10 years, according to clinical trial analyses. The most pronounced benefits were observed in patients who started on the therapy in the controlled part of the trials, compared with…

High-efficacy therapies given early can significantly reduce the risk of disability worsening in children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly when treatment is started while patients have fairly minimal disability, according to a new study. While lower-efficacy therapies were also associated with a reduced risk of disability progression…

The presence in the brain of chronic inflammatory lesions — called paramagnetic rim lesions (PRLs) — in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with a greater relapse burden and faster disability progression in the long term, according to a new U.S. study. Among more than 150 patients who…

Gender and age at the onset of disease don’t seem to have a clinically relevant impact on disability progression in people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), according to a recent study in Argentina. Disease progression, based on the Expanded Disability Status…

More than three-quarters of people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) who received Zeposia (ozanimod) in the RADIANCE clinical trial and its extension study still haven’t experienced confirmed disability progression after eight years of follow-up, new data shows. Among those who progressed, about half of disability progression…

Most disability worsening events happen independent of relapse activity across all types of multiple sclerosis (MS), including clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and early relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), a new study reports. The findings challenge the idea that relapses are the main driver of disability worsening in early relapsing…

The rate of brain atrophy, or volume loss, may help in determining whether disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) are slowing disability progression in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a review of data from 12 published studies found. The analysis, “Brain Atrophy as an Outcome of Disease-Modifying Therapy for…

Disability progression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) significantly reduces their quality of life, affects their ability to work, and represents a major socioeconomic cost, according to real-world data collected from a German MS registry. These results suggest that the use of disease-modifying therapies to slow MS progression…

Elevated blood levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL), a marker of nerve damage, are associated with long-term disability progression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) — even among those without acute relapses or MRI disease activity — a study revealed. The results demonstrate the potential utility of NfL blood…

Outcomes are better for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) initially treated with higher efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) than for those who begin with lower efficacy DMTs and escalate to more effective treatments as the disease progresses, according to a real-world analysis of patient registry data. Findings also…

Altered blood levels of certain fat molecules implicated in inflammatory responses seem to correlate with disability status and markers of nerve damage in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly in those with progressive forms of the disorder, a study reported. Findings highlight the potential role of these fat, or…

Physical disability, not whether patients are depressed, when they’re diagnosed with multiple sclerosis significantly influences their future disability progression, according to a recent U.K. registry study. Although patients who were depressed at the time of their diagnosis were more likely to accumulate significant disability and require an aid to…

More than 80% of patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) given Kesimpta (ofatumumab) continuously for up to five years in a clinical trial did not have any documented worsening of disability over the duration of the treatment. That’s according to new data from the ongoing…

Most adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who received Immunic Therapeutics‘ investigational therapy vidofludimus calcium have had no confirmed disability progression after two years of treatment. That’s according to new interim data from the open-label extension portion of the EMPhASIS trial, which has been running for nearly…

Measuring how lesions get bigger over time in multiple sclerosis (MS) can predict long-term disability progression more accurately than other lesion-based assessments, a new study reports. “Enlargement of T2 [total] lesions, and specifically of its volume, … is more strongly associated with long-term disability progression compared to other…

Disability progression in the absence of relapses is less common in children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS) than among people with adult-onset disease, according to data covering more than 5,000 patients with relapsing forms of MS. Nevertheless, this form of progression — called progression independent of relapse activity,…

Remyelination, or regeneration of the myelin sheath that’s progressively damaged and lost in multiple sclerosis (MS), may be less effective for those who develop MS later in life, new research suggests. People with late-onset MS (LOMS) whose disease appears after age 50 have significantly fewer oligodendrocytes – the…

Measuring disability progression every time it occurs, rather than just tracking whether it occurs, could improve the statistical power of clinical trials in multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly for progressive forms of the disease. That’s according to scientists at Roche and several academic institutions who published their findings in…