February 20, 2024 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Chronic inflammatory lesions linked to more aggressive MS in US study The presence in the brain of chronic inflammatory lesions ā called paramagnetic rim lesions (PRLs) ā 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…
January 29, 2024 News by Andrea Lobo, PhD Gender, age at PPMS onset has no impact on disability progression 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…
October 19, 2023 News by Andrea Lobo, PhD ECTRIMS 2023: Most on Zeposia see slower disability progression 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…
October 17, 2023 News by Marisa Wexler, MS ECTRIMS 2023: Early high-efficacy treatment helps to slow disability in pediatric-onset MS Use of high-efficacy therapies can lower the risk of disability progression in people with childhood-onset multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly if given in early disease stages when disablingĀ symptoms are negligible. That’s according to data shared at the 9th joint meeting of the European Committee for Treatment and…
October 6, 2023 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Progression without relapses drives most disability worsening in MS 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…
September 27, 2023 News by Margarida Maia, PhD Brain volume loss helps in judging DMT efficacy in RRMS: Review 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, āBrain Atrophy as an Outcome of Disease-Modifying Therapy for…
August 18, 2023 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Disability leads to great costs for patients, society: Real-world data 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…
July 12, 2023 News by Steve Bryson, PhD NfL blood levels may help predict long-term progression of MS: Study 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) ā even among those without acute relapses or MRI disease activity ā a study revealed. The results demonstrate the potential utility of NfL blood…
July 7, 2023 News by Steve Bryson, PhD Outcomes better for RRMS patients who start on higher efficacy DMTs 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…
June 20, 2023 News by Steve Bryson, PhD Fatty acid-derived molecules tied to inflammation, disability in study 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…
June 6, 2023 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Depression not a causal risk factor for disability progression: Study 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…
April 28, 2023 News by Marisa Wexler, MS AAN 2023: MS disability not worse for most on Kesimpta over 5 years 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…
November 21, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS 2 Years of Vidofludimus Calcium Thwarts Disability Progression: Data 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…
November 10, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Measuring Growth of Lesions in MS Better Predicts Disability Progression 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…
October 31, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 ā Relapse-free Progression Evident in Pediatric MS 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 ā called progression independent of relapse activity,…
October 27, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 ā Poor Myelin Repair Offers Clues in Disease Progression 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 ā the…
October 24, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Recurrent MS Disability Progression Measures May Aid Trial Efficiency 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…
May 25, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD ‘Silent Progression’ in Relapsing MS Linked to Significant Brain Atrophy People with relapsing multiple sclerosis who have disability progression, but no clinical relapses, show significantly faster brain shrinkage, or atrophy, than those with a stable disease, a study shows. There were no significant differences in the brain atrophy rate between patients with progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA) and…
April 27, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #AAN2022 ā For Children With MS, Symptoms May Predict Future Disability Children with multiple sclerosis (MS) who in their first year after disease onset experience pyramidal symptoms, such as spasticity or weakness, visual problems, or show signs of cerebellum involvement like poorer coordination are more likely to have worse long-term disability, an analysis of registry data indicates. The analysis also…
April 4, 2022 News by Margarida Maia, PhD COVID-19 Not Linked to Long-term Worsening of RRMS: Iranian Study COVID-19 does not seem to be linked to increased disability worsening or more relapses in the long term for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), an Iranian study suggests. The study was relatively small, the researchers noted, indicating that more research is needed in the future to determine the…
March 11, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Worsening Disability in Absence of Relapses ‘Underestimated’ in MS A substantial amount of disability worsening happens independently of relapses in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), including those in earlier stages of relapsing-remitting disease, a study in a large patient database reported. While its findings “confirm relapses contribute to the accumulation of disability, primarily early in multiple sclerosis,” data…
March 1, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ACTRIMS2022 ā Cortical Lesions Seen to Predict Disability Worsening A higher burden of lesions in the brain’s cortex is associated with a greater likelihood of disability worsening in multiple sclerosis (MS) and transition to secondary progressive MS (SPMS), researchers report. These results suggest that “monitoring cortical lesion volume … could be useful when stratifying risk of disability…
December 7, 2021 News by Steve Bryson, PhD Oral Contraceptives Do Not Increase Risk of 2nd Attack, Worse Disease The use of oral contraceptives does not increase the risk of a second attack of symptoms or the progression of disability in women with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) or early stage multiple sclerosis, a study demonstrated. Notably, the researchers also “did not find a protective effect on disability…
October 18, 2021 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #ECTRIMS2021 ā Early Ocrevus Slows MS Better Versus 2-year Delay Editorās note: TheĀ Multiple Sclerosis News Today team is providing in-depth coverage of the virtual 37th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), Oct. 13ā15. GoĀ here to see the latest stories from the conference. Early use of…
October 15, 2021 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #ECTRIMS2021 ā Stem Cell Transplant May Better Treat SPMS Than DMTs Editorās note: TheĀ Multiple Sclerosis News Today team is providing in-depth coverage of the virtual 37th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), Oct. 13ā15. GoĀ here to see the latest stories from the conference.
July 7, 2021 News by Steve Bryson, PhD High-Potency SPMS Meds Limit Relapses, Study Finds High-potency therapies are more effective at reducing the frequency of symptom relapses in people with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) than low-potency medications, a 10-year study showed. Notably, there was no difference in the effectiveness of either high- or low-potency medicines to limit the progression of disability. āWhen the…
May 17, 2021 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD NICE Again Says No to Adding Zeposia to Health System for England and Wales The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has maintained its initial draft recommendation and will not recommend that Zeposia (ozanimod) be added to the National Health Service (NHS) of England and Wales. This final decision on the cost effectiveness of the oral therapy means Zeposia will…
February 22, 2021 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD Switch From Tysabri to Moderate-efficacy DMTs Linked to Worse Disability Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) switching from Tysabri (natalizumab) to moderate-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) are at a higher risk of showing signs of MS activity and experiencing disability progression than those switching to high-efficacy DMTs, a real-world study found. Based on these findings, the researchers are arguing that,…
January 25, 2021 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD Stem Cell Transplant Can Produce Long-term Benefits in Relapsing MS Patients A stem cell transplant can prevent disability progression and maintain disease remission over long periods of time in most patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) who failed to respond adequately to disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), a study reports. The study, āLong-Term Clinical Outcomes of Hematopoietic…
January 25, 2021 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD NICE Opposes Zeposia Being Added to RRMS Therapies in UK’s Health Service The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) does not recommend Zeposia (ozanimod) be available at low or no cost through the National Health Service (NHS) to treat adults with active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS)Ā living in England and Wales. In a recentĀ draft recommendation, NICE stated thatĀ …