November 13, 2020 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD Bone Marrow Transplant Most Useful for Younger Patients, MS Society Experts Suggest A bone marrow transplant may be particularly useful for those with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) who, despite treatment with high-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), continue to experience relapses or show signs of new lesions, experts say. According to new recommendations from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society,…
November 10, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Stem Cell Transplant More Effective Than Lemtrada in Treating RRMS, Study Suggests An autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantĀ (AHSCT) is more effective than LemtradaĀ (alemtuzumab) at achieving no evidence of disease activity and preventing relapses in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosisĀ (RRMS), a real-life study in Sweden reported. Adverse events (side effects) were more frequent with AHSCT over the first three…
November 9, 2020 News by Teresa Carvalho, MS Tysabri Superior to Gilenya at Easing Activity in RRMS, Study Reports Treatment with Tysabri (natalizumab) was more effective thanĀ Gilenya (fingolimod) in helping people with relapsingāremitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) achieve no evidence of disease activity, a head-to-head study suggested. The study, “BEST-MS: A prospective head-to-head comparative study of natalizumab and fingolimod in active relapsing MS,” was…
November 9, 2020 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Monitoring Fluctuations in Brain Volume May Help Track RRMS Disease Progression The brain volume of people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) undergoes a dynamic cycle of enlargement and contractions, a new study shows. Patients with a lower volume (contractions) had less severe MS and a shorter disease duration, the study found. Overall, these findings suggest that frequent monitoring of the…
September 16, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #MSVirtual2020 – Pediatric MS Patients May Do Best on Intravenous DMTs, Study Finds Most children and adolescents with pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS), especially those treated intravenously with a disease-modifying therapyĀ (DMT), achieve no evidence of disease activity within two years of diagnosis, according to a real-life study from the U.S. Patients whose DMTs are infused into a vein (intravenous treatment) areĀ more likely…
September 9, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #MSVirtual2020 ā No Evidence of Disease Activity Seen in Most RRMS Patients After Switching to Ocrevus, Data Show Switching to Genentechās OcrevusĀ (ocrelizumab) following suboptimal treatment responses significantly lessens symptoms and leads to high rates of no evidence of disease activity in people withĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosisĀ (RRMS), according to data from a Phase 3b clinical trial. That finding, as well as data about patients’ adherence and…
August 11, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Rituximab More Effective Than Gilenya, Tecfidera, and Comparable to Tysabri, Study Finds Rituximab is more effective and leads to fewer treatment discontinuations in people with multiple sclerosisĀ (MS)Ā than Gilenya (fingolimod) and Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate), according to real-world data based on two years of therapy. Rituximabās effectiveness appeared to be comparable to that of Tysabri (natalizumab), but with fewer…
June 23, 2020 Columns by Jessie Ace Being Free from Symptom Flares Makes Me Feel Like a Fraud Iām a fraud. Or at least I feel like one.Ā When writing for a site about multiple sclerosis and setting up a business focused on my diagnosis to help others in the same boat, it is a requirement that I…
June 15, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Experts Clarify Concepts of MS States to Improve Patient Care, Clinical Trials An international committee of multiple sclerosis (MS) experts further clarified how guidelines, updated in 2013, should be used to classify this disease’s different states, and stressed the importance of measuring these states in a timely and consistent manner. The group’s statement, āThe 2013 clinical course descriptors…
June 12, 2020 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD Switch From Tysabri to Other DMT Raises Relapse Risk, Study Finds The risk of a relapse isĀ two to three times higher inĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS)Ā patients who switch from Tysabri (natalizumab) to an oral or other injectable…
April 10, 2020 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD HLA-DRB1 Gene Variants Seen to Influence Risk, Activity of Pediatric-onset MS A variant of the HLA-DRB1 geneĀ āĀ called HLA-DRB1*03 āĀ appears to predispose people to developingĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) in childhood, and to correlate with greater disease activity among those who do, a study in Greek patients suggests. The research also points to a protective role of one other variant of this…
April 1, 2020 News by Forest Ray PhD Blood Levels of Nerve Cell Protein Likely Marker of Brain Injury to Come A nerve cell protein found in the blood shows potential as a biomarker of neuroinflammation and future neurodegeneration in the early stages ofĀ multiple sclerosis (MS), a study reports. The protein, called serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL), is a known marker of injury to axons (nerve…
March 24, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Risk of Faster Progression in PPMS Tied to Older Age and Active Disease Older age at onset and evidence of active disease, like clinical relapses or inflammatory brain lesions, significantly increase the likelihood of Ā faster disability progression in primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), a natural history study suggests. These findings ā which included active disease being seen in 31% of the 178…
February 24, 2020 News by David Melamed, PhD MS Patients Switching from Tysabri to Other Therapies May Risk Disease Activity Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients switching from Tysabri (natalizumab) to other disease-modifying therapies may have an increased risk of disease activity, though the risk is lower if the switch is limited to three months, a study found. The results were published in an article, “Effect of…
November 22, 2019 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Black and Hispanic RRMS Patients Show High Levels of Immune Cells Linked to Antibodies, US Study Reports African-AmericansĀ and Hispanics with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) have higher blood levels of plasmablasts,Ā a type of inflammatory immune cell that produces antibodies, than do Caucasians with this disease, a study found. The study āBlack African and Latino/a identity correlates with increased plasmablasts in MSā was published in the journal…
October 31, 2019 Columns by Tamara Sellman Need to Know: What Is Lesion Load? Editor’s note: “Need to Knowā is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topicĀ “MS Lesions and Silent Inflammation” from Aug. 16, 2018. Have an experience you…
October 23, 2019 News by Alejandra Viviescas, PhD NfL and CHI3L1 Work as Biomarkers of Disease Activity and Progression in MS, Study Says The levels ofĀ neurofilament light chainĀ (NfL) and chitinase3-like1 (CHI3L1) in the cerebrospinal fluid ā the liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord ā serve as respective biomarkers of disease activity and progression in multiple sclerosis (MS), a study reports. Measuring levels of both proteins also helps to…
October 16, 2019 News by Iqra Mumal, MSc Tysabri Treatment Leads to Disease Activity-free Status in Patients with Pediatric-onset MS Early treatment with Tysabri (natalizumab) of patients with aggressive pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis is highly effective at achieving disease activity-free status and preventing cognitive decline, a new study shows. The study, āNo evidence of disease activity including cognition (NEDA-3 plus) in naĆÆve pediatric multiple sclerosis patients treated with natalizumab,ā…
September 16, 2019 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2019 – Newer DMTs More Effective Than Older Injectables in Pediatric MS, Study Says Using newer disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) as an initial treatment for children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS) or clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) is associated with fewer relapses and brain lesions compared to the use of older and injectable DMTs, according to a real-world study in the U.S.
September 13, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD #ECTRIMS2019 – Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplants Safe and Help Stop Progressive MS, Trial Data Show Transplanting mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is safe and can delay disease progression in people with active, progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), according to results from a single-center clinical trial conducted in Israel. Six months after the transplant, a considerable proportion of patients showed no signs of disease activity, compared to…
June 4, 2019 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Vumerity’s Safety, Effectiveness Bolstered by New Data from EVOLVE-MS-1 Trial Vumerity (diroximel fumarate), taken as a 462 milligram (mg) tablet twice daily, significantly decreases disease activity in patients withĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosisĀ (RRMS), and leads to low rates of gastrointestinal side effects, new interim data of Phase 3 trial EVOLVE-MS-1 show. The findings were presented at the 2019 Consortium…
May 7, 2019 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #AANAM ā Tysabri Lowers Serum Neurofilament Light Levels in SPMS Patients, Phase 3 Trial Finds Treatment with TysabriĀ (natalizumab) lowers the levels of the biomarker serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) in patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosisĀ (SPMS), according to data from a Phase 3 trial. Findings also revealed that higher levels of sNfL correlated with MS lesions and disease activity prior to starting the…
March 12, 2019 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #AANAM ā Risk of MS Relapses Not Increased Right After Giving Birth, Study Suggests Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) do not experience more relapses right after giving birth, as previously believed, according to a preliminary study. The study also revealed that mothers with MS who breastfeed their babies have a lower relapse risk compared with those who do not breastfeed. The data, ā…
February 15, 2019 News by Jonathan Grinstein Neurofilament Light Chain Levels in Blood of Value as Biomarker of MS Activity and Treatment Response, Study Finds Blood levels of a nerve cell-derived component known as neurofilament light chain (NfL) could be used as a biomarker of disease severity and treatment response in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a new study shows. The research article, āBlood neurofilament light chain as a biomarker of MS…
January 2, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD Acrolein Eyed as Potential Biomarker of MS, Preliminary Study Finds A product called acrolein, which is naturally excreted by the body and possible to measure in urine and blood, may be a potential biomarker to help diagnose and evaluate disease activity in people withĀ multiple sclerosis (MS),Ā according to preliminary research in animal models and humans. Researchers are investigating whether acrolein…
December 21, 2018 News by Alberto Molano, PhD Study Links Food Allergies and Increased MS Disease Activity Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who reported food allergies showed a 27 percent higher cumulative rate of flare-ups over the course of their disease, and more than twice the likelihood of having active inflammatory lesions, a new study shows. The study, āFood Allergies are Associated with Increased Disease Activity…
October 16, 2018 News by BioNews Staff #ECTRIMS2018 – MS PATHS Just Starting to See Potential, Aims for Remission as Treatment Goal, Biogen Exec Says MS PATHS, a way of capturing data on disease progression and treatment response in thousands of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients being treated at any of 10 participating clinics, has among its goals that of making clinical remission ā a prolonged absence of any disease activity ā possible, said an…
October 12, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018: Study Proposes Serum Neurofilament Light Threshold to Identify RRMS Patients at Risk of Worsening Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients with serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels higher than a proposed threshold have a higher risk of disease activity, and worsened disability, lesions and brain shrinkage in the long term, according to a new study. The research, āSerum neurofilament light (NfL)…
August 21, 2018 News by Janet Stewart, MSc Consecutive Use of Gilenya and Lemtrada Causes Disease Activity in MS Patient, Case Report Suggests Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients may experience severe disease exacerbation after switching fromĀ NovartisāĀ Gilenya (fingolimod) to Sanofi Genzymeās LemtradaĀ (alemtuzumab), a case report suggests. This unexpected high disease activity raises questions about managing MS through the consecutive use of immunotherapies. The case report, āUnexpected high multiple…
July 24, 2018 News by Ana Pena PhD Cerebrospinal Fluid Neurofilament Predicts CIS and RRMS Progression, Study Contends Cerebrospinal fluid levels of neurofilament light chain, a protein associated with nerve cell damage, can predict disease progression in people with clinical isolated syndrome (CIS) and relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a Swedish study found. Higher levels…