July 19, 2023 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Can elderly MS patients safely stop treatment? Study aims to find out. A first-of-its-kind study is aiming to determine whether older adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) can safely stop taking disease-modifying therapies, also known as disease-modifying agents (DMAs). The project is being led by scientists at the new P-HOPER Center, officially the Population Health Outcomes and Pharmacoepidemiology Education and Research…
June 26, 2023 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Stopping DMTs a ‘reasonable option’ for some older MS patients Older people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have not experienced disease activity for several years still will benefit from disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) to control the neurodegenerative disorder, a new study found. Data from a first trial assessing whether discontinuation of DMTs among these patients is at least as…
June 9, 2023 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Ocrevus best to prevent MS relapses after stopping Tysabri: Study Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) ā given by infusion ā may work better than certain oral treatments to prevent relapses and disability worsening in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who transition from Tysabri (natalizumab), a new study found. Individuals who switched to Ocrevus also were more likely to stay…
July 13, 2021 News by Somi Igbene, PhD Patients Less Likely to Stop Taking Tecfidera Than Aubagio: Study Tecfidera has a lower risk of discontinuation due to treatment failure than Aubagio in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new observational study in Norway suggests. In the study, people receiving Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) were 38% less likely to experience treatment failure and stop use than those receiving…
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,…
September 24, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Older Age at DMT Discontinuation Linked to Sustained NEDA in CIS Patients Older age at disease-modifying therapy (DMT) discontinuation is the main predictive factor of sustained “no evidence of disease activity” (NEDA) in people starting DMT immediately after being diagnosed with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), according to a study in Austria. In particular, patients discontinuing DMT at age 45 or…
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…
February 26, 2020 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Stopping Tysabri Early Tied to Active PPMS, Smoking and Depression in Patients, Study Finds The likelihood of discontinuing treatment with Tysabri (natalizumab) is higher among patients with progressive relapsing multiple sclerosis, and those who smoke and are depressed, a study reported. Progressive relapsing MS (PRMS) is now largely considered a subset of primary progressive MS, or PPMS marked by periods…
January 17, 2019 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD Fewer RRMS Patients Relapse, Discontinue Treatment with Gilenya, Study Finds Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients on Gilenya (fingolimod) have fewer relapses and stay on treatment longer than those takingĀ Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) or Aubagio (teriflunomide), according to a new study. The research, āComparison of fingolimod, dimethyl fumarate and teriflunomide for multiple sclerosis,ā was published…
October 16, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – Two European Studies Compare Tecfidera, Aubagio Effectiveness Treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients with Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate)Ā is associated with fewer new brain lesions at two years, lower relapse rates, increased time to first relapse, and reduced treatment discontinuation than with Aubagio (teriflunomide), according to a nationwide study from France and a real-world, population-based…
August 30, 2018 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Tecfidera, Gilenya Equally Effective, But More MS Patients Stop Tecfidera, Real-World Study Shows TecfideraĀ (dimethyl fumarate) and GilenyaĀ (fingolimod) are equally effective in treating multiple sclerosis (MS),Ā but Tecfidera shows higher rates of discontinuation, according to a real-world study. The study, āDiscontinuation and comparative effectiveness of dimethyl fumarate and fingolimod in 2 centers,ā was published in the journal Neurology Clinical…
July 6, 2017 News by admin Younger MS Patients Who Are Hospitalized May Be at Higher Risk of Quitting Treatment, Study Reports MS patients who start treatment at a younger age, and whose condition requires hospitalization, are more likely to stop treatment, a Canadian study reports. The research, published in the journal Dovepress, dealt with the main reasons Canadian patients quit first-line injected disease-modifying therapies, or DMTs. It was titled āPersistence to disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis in a Canadian cohort.ā DMTs can reduce MS activity, but patients must stick with them in order for them to be effective. āThere is currently a paucity of clinical trial data on what happens to individuals when they discontinue DMT," the researchers wrote. "However, recent preliminary evidence from observational studies suggest increased relapses and disability in those who discontinue DMT." Researchers sought to identify MS patients at higher risk of discontinuing treatment. They looked at Manitoba Province's medical database to identify the types of drugs MS patients were taking, and for how long. The analysis covered 721 patients who received injected beta-interferons or Copaxone between 1996 and 2011, and whom doctors followed for at least a year. Teva manufactures Copaxone, whose generic name is glatiramer acetate. The mean age of the patients in the study was 37.6 years, and 74.2 percent were women. Researchers defined a discontinuation of a DMT as a 90-day or longer gap in treatment. A third of the patients were treated with beta-interferon-1b, either Bayer HealthCare's Betaferon/Betaseron or Novartis' Extavia. It was the first such therapy available in Manitoba. Twenty-three percent of patients received beta-interferon-1a, either Biogen's Avonex or Merck's Rebif. And 21 percent received Copaxone. The median time before a patient discontinued a DMT was 4.2 years. Although 62.6 percent of patients discontinued treatment at some point, 57.4 percent either reinitiated it or switched to a different DMT. Patients who were on DMT at least a year were more likely to stay with it than those who stopped in the first year. Importantly, patients who started a DMT at a younger age were more likely to stop taking it than older patients. āOur results are also consistent with previous work examining persistence for other chronic medication classes, including statins, antihypertensives, bisphosphonates, and oral antidiabetic agents, where the risk for discontinuing drugs declined in a linear fashion with age,ā the researchers wrote. The team also found that 16 percent of patients had to be hospitalized overnight, with 3 percent of the cases due to MS-related complications. And these hospitalized patients were more likely to stop their DMT treatment earlier, the researchers said. Summing up, the team said: "Subjects who were younger when starting a DMT, had prior MS-related hospitalizations, were more recently diagnosed with MS, or had a greater lag time between their MS diagnosis and DMT initiation were more likely to discontinue therapy." Although "not all of the factors identified with discontinuing DMT" can be modified, "they may help practitioners enhance MS care by identifying individuals who may be at particular risk for DMT discontinuation," the researchers concluded.
April 21, 2017 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Decisions to Stop Taking Tysabri for MS Are Often Subjective, Study Concludes Many decisions to stop taking the multiple sclerosis treatmentĀ Tysabri (natalizumab)Ā appear to be based largely on subjective factors such as patients’ or physicians’ view of the risk, rather thanĀ objective assessments of the risk, a study indicates. TysabriĀ is an approved immunotherapy for active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Despite its benefits, there…
March 21, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD CONy16: Should RRMS Disease-Modifying Drugs Be Used to Treat Secondary Progressive MS? A majorĀ dilemma facing clinicians is whether to continue treatment withĀ disease-modifying drugs, effective in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), as the disease progresses to secondary progressive MS (SPMS). In SPMS, Ā these treatments seem to lose their benefits and ā as they areĀ often associated with severe side effects and high costs ā clinicians…