Interferon Works Best in Early Stages of MS
May 3, 2000 (San Diego) -- Early and aggressive treatment with an immune-stimulating drug called interferon can delay or possibly even prevent the crippling symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to findings presented here at the 52nd annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. But timing the treatment is crucial, say the European and North American scientists, who gave details of two studies that could teach doctors more about when MS patients will benefit the most from interferon therapy.
MS has at least two phases, says Donald E. Goodkin, MD, medical director of the University of California, San Francisco/Mount Zion MS Center. The first is known as the "relapsing-remitting" (R/R) phase, because it is marked by episodes of flare-ups followed by periods of no or mild symptoms. The R/R phase is thought to be caused by inflammation.
The next phase -- the secondary progressive phase - is marked by a gradual but ongoing breakdown of nerve cells. The inflammation lessens, and another process, as yet unidentified by scientists, seems to cause the disease to worsen. Approximately 50% of people with MS enter the secondary phase within 10 years after the R/R phase begins.
"The suggestion is emerging that interferons target an early step in [disease] development," says Henry F. McFarland, MD, chief of the branch of neuroimmunology at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. "We are beginning to define in more detail the type of patient who can benefit most from this treatment."
Both trials described at the conference enrolled patients who were 18-65 years old and were in the secondary progressive phase of MS, Goodkin explains. The main object of both trials was to examine the effect of interferon on the development of symptoms such as paralysis, weakness, and loss of balance or coordination. The investigators also kept watch on secondary factors, called secondary outcomes, such as the number and severity of relapses, how long they lasted, and how often patients were hospitalized.
The two trials had different eligibility requirements. European patients had to have had at least two flare-ups or a gradual progression of disability within the 2 years before the study started. Every other day, they were injected either with interferon or with an inactive substance called a placebo. The North American patients only needed evidence of gradual progression of disability to be eligible. They received a placebo or one of two doses of interferon every other day.