mitoxantrone induction therapy delivers 90% attack reduction

American Academy of Neurology (AAN) 18-Apr-02

this study is well worth the read. treatment is somewhat involved. and this hits a lot harder than the crabs. but it seems to work.

Initial Chemotherapy Treatment Reduces Relapses in MS Patients Library: MED Keywords: AAN NEUROLOGY CHEMOTHERAPY REDUCES RELAPSES MS PATIENTS
Description: Mitoxantrone, a chemical routinely used to fight breast cancer, leukemia and malignant lymphoma, has found a new disease to battle: Multiple Sclerosis. Used in an initial intensive course of chemotherapy (induction therapy), mitoxantrone dramatically decreases disease activity in MS patients for at least four years, according to a study presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

Over the past ten years, 100 worsening relapsing-remitting MS patients were given initial mitoxantrone induction therapy for six months, with mitoxantrone combined with methylprednisolone administered intravenously on a monthly schedule. The annual relapse rate decreased significantly from 3.20 during the 12 months preceding mitoxantrone onset to 0.30 during the first year following induction onset, corresponding to a reduction of nearly 90 percent that was maintained for more than five years. The percentage of relapse-free patients was 76 percent at one year of follow-up, and was maintained at 64 percent, 45 percent, and 43 percent at years two, three and four, respectively, with a median time to the first relapse of 2.8 years.

"The clinical benefit and reduction of disease activity supports our belief that mitoxantrone, as administered in this study, may be an effective induction treatment before initiating other long-term disease modifying therapies for worsening relapsing-remitting MS patients," commented study author Emmanuelle Le Page, MD.