According to a study presented at the 2002 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, mitoxantrone, a chemical routinely used to fight breast cancer, leukemia, and malignant lymphoma, dramatically decreases disease activity in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) for at least 4 years.

Induction therapy, frequently used against cancers, is designed to wipe out abnormal cells and allow for the regrowth of normal cells. Mitoxantrone (Novantrone®) was recently approved by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of MS. It has been used to treat MS in France for more than a decade. Now, researchers from France have demonstrated that mitoxantrone induction therapy for patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) has produced dramatic results in disease activity.

Over the past 10 years, 100 patients with worsening RRMS were given initial mitoxantrone induction therapy for 6 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% that was maintained for more than 5 years. The percentage of relapse-free patients was 76% at one year of follow-up, and was maintained at 64%, 45%, and 43% at years 2, 3, and 4, respectively, with a median time to the first relapse of 2.8 years. (Newswire)

This entry was posted on Monday, July 15th, 2002 at 1:05 pm and is filed under All Articles, Studies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.