by Judy George, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today
Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated initially with fingolimod (Gilenya), natalizumab (Tysabri), or alemtuzumab (Lemtrada) had a lower risk of converting to secondary progressive MS than patients who started with glatiramer acetate (Copaxone) or interferon beta (Rebif), researchers reported.
And compared to MS patients who were untreated, patients initially treated with any of these therapies — including glatiramer acetate or interferon beta — had a lower risk secondary progressive MS conversion, according to Tomas Kalincik, PhD, of the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia, and colleagues.
The effects were more significant when treatments were started within the first 5 years of disease onset, they wrote in JAMA.
“This has been a very large question for some time: Can we really show that earlier use of these disease-modifying therapies actually results in a delay of entry into secondary progressive phase of the illness?” said John Corboy, MD, of the University of Colorado, who was not part of the study.
When MS patients are younger and have relapses, they often have very good recovery and a significant part of their functionality remains, but once they go into a secondary progressive phase and reach certain points, disability accrues, Corboy said. “With the median age of onset of that phase being 40 to 45, that means that still quite young individuals are developing significant irreversible disability,” he told MedPage Today.
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