July 7, 2009

The European Neurological Society recently held their annual meeting, and while I didn't attend, I did spend a little time browsing through the on-line abstracts. Several of the findings seem worth featuring, such as:

• Results from the extension phase of a FTY720 phase 2 trial showed continued efficacy -- 50-70% of the recipients were free of inflammatory activity after 4 years, and 65-75% had no confirmed progression
• Safety, clinical efficacy, and MRI results from the CLARITY study of oral cladribine were presented (I think some of these results had also been presented at the 2009 AAN meeting)
• Pneumonia appears to be a particular risk factor for mortality in people with MS
• Natalizumab stabilized four subjects who, despite being treated with haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for aggressive MS, had gone on to have relapses and MRI activity
• The incidence of leukemia in MS patients receiving mitoxantrone at an Italian clinic was 7.4 per 1,000, which was higher than expected
• Analysis of AFFIRM study data showed that people in the natalizumab arm were more likely to experience an improvement in disability compared with those on the placebo arm; data from the monitoring program TOUCH also reveal disability improvements in participants
• The costs associated with the process of being diagnosed with MS (including both direct medical costs and other costs such as time off work) were calculated at 8450 euros per person (nearly $12,000 US dollars)
• A whole-genome screen on PPMS subjects found that the HLA Class II region was associated with MS (as has been shown in relapsing-onset subjects); other gene variants were also identified
• A study of brain biopsy tissue from people in early MS stages showed axonal damage in plaques that extended into the white matter surrounding the plaques (probably due to the phenomenon of "Wallerian degeneration")
• Imaging of brains of children and adolescents with MS compared with controls showed damage to normal appearing white matter in the MS subjects, but fortunately there was no evidence of damage in the cortical gray matter
• A study of autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in people with progressive MS showed that most stabilized or improved through an average of 20 months follow-up
• PC-based cognitive training improved cognitive functioning in subjects with RRMS, and functional MRI indicated that this was due to increased activation of cortical brain structures
• Treatment with interferon beta or Copaxone over two years appeared to halt progression of cognitive impairment in a cohort of RRMS subjects; cognitive impairment was associated with physical disability, fatigue and depression

If you have a few moments you might want to do your own browsing since many, many more interesting studies were reported at this meeting! Just click here.