REPORT FROM ECTRIMS – BARCELONA, SPAIN – OCTOBER 7-10, 2015 – The MS-AHSCT Long-Term Outcomes Study Group has compiled data for MS patients undergoing autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) during the period 1995-2006 to determine long-term outcomes (Muraro et al. ECTRIMS 2015; abstract 1671). A total of 281 patients from 25 centres were evaluable. The median duration of follow-up was 6.6 years (range 0.2-16 years). Read More

REPORT FROM ECTRIMS – BARCELONA, SPAIN – OCTOBER 7-10, 2015 – There is a need for early intervention with more effective therapies to slow disability progression, according to a series of analyses by the MSBase investigators. Read More

REPORT FROM ECTRIMS – BARCELONA, SPAIN – OCTOBER 7-10, 2015 – The much-anticipated results of the OPERA I and II studies of ocrelizumab in relapsing MS were presented on Friday and indicate that the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody is highly effective compared to interferon-beta-1a s.c. (Hauser et al. ECTRIMS 2015; abstract 190). Read More

REPORT FROM ECTRIMS – BARCELONA, SPAIN – OCTOBER 7-10, 2015 – Benign MS is typically defined as EDSS < 3 at 10-15 years post-diagnosis, and there is considerable debate about how benign the disease course really is if long-term cognitive as well as physical disability is taken into account. Read More

REPORT FROM ECTRIMS – BARCELONA, SPAIN – OCTOBER 7-10, 2015 – A number of novel therapies that target inflammation and/or neurodegeneration in MS are currently being investigated. Among them is MEDI-551, a B-cell directed monoclonal antibody that depletes CD19+ B cells. Unlike CD20+ (targeted by ocrelizumab and ofatumumab), CD19+ is expressed throughout B cell maturation, from pro-B cells to early plasma cell stages. Read More