Leukemia Drug Is Highly Effective MS Treatment
Alemtuzumab Lessens Relapses, Improves Disability
Oct. 31, 2012 -- Two new trials offer proof that a leukemia drug long used to treat multiple sclerosis works better than a common treatment.
When compared with the widely used drug interferon beta, the leukemia drug alemtuzumab reduced relapse rates by half, researchers say.
A Visual Guide to Multiple Sclerosis
Alemtuzumab Reverses Disability in Some
Alemtuzumab has been used to treat MS for close to two decades, but it has never been approved for this use. It is given by IV infusion.
The drug not only reduced relapses, but improved disability associated with MS, such as loss of coordination or difficulty walking, in some patients.
Side effects include infusion reactions, infections, and potentially serious autoimmune disorders. Patients taking it must be followed closely.
“In the menu of treatment choices for MS patients, I think alemtuzumab falls into the ‘high-reward, high-risk’ category,” says Alasdair Coles, MD, of Britain’s University of Cambridge, who led one of the newly published studies.
“No other drug has been shown to offer the benefits in terms of disability improvement that this drug shows,” he says. "It comes with problems, but these problems are manageable.”
400,000 MS Patients in U.S.
The National MS Society estimates that about 400,000 people in the United States have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and most (85%) have the relapsing-remitting form of the disease, in which symptoms come and go.
These symptoms can include loss of feeling, coordination, and mobility, problems with thinking and vision, and depression.
In one of the two newly published studies, University of Cambridge researchers followed 563 previously untreated patients treated with either alemtuzumab or interferon beta.
Two years later, 22% of the alemtuzumab-treated patients had relapsed, compared to 40% of those treated with interferon beta.
In the second study, which included 840 patients whose MS symptoms were not being controlled with other treatments, treatment with alemtuzumab was associated with 35% of patients relapsing over two years, compared to a 51% relapse rate among those treated with interferon beta.
Patients in this study were also less likely to have additional MS-related disabilities after two years when they took alemtuzumab; 13% had disabilities compared to 20% of interferon-treated patients.