People with very early signs of MS who received the drug in a clinical trial were less likely to develop symptoms.
April 19, 2023, 5:49 PM EDT
By Kaitlin Sullivan
Starting treatment for multiple sclerosis early — before symptoms even begin — could possibly delay the onset of the condition, new research finds.
Preliminary results of a small Phase 3 clinical trial showed a drug called teriflunomide may delay or prevent MS symptoms in people who have what’s known as radiologically isolated syndrome, which causes the same brain and spinal cord lesions seen in people with MS. The findings will be presented next week at the American Academy of Neurology’s 75th annual meeting in Boston.
About half of people who have RIS go on to develop MS.
“The goal of treatment in the RIS phase is to keep a patient in the 50% that doesn’t convert to MS in 10 years, to stop it before the disease becomes symptomatic,” said Dr. Orhun Kantarci, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and a co-author of the new study.
There are currently no Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for RIS, but early intervention is crucial, experts say.