…ll survival at five years was 93%. The five-year probability of progression-free survival was 49%. Factors associated with progression post-transplant were progressive vs. relapsing disease (hazard ratio 1.68), more than two prior disease-modifying therapies (HR 1.61), and age >37 years (HR 1.40). Neurological improvement in the year following transplant occurred in 52% of relapsing patients and 31% of progressive patients. The authors concluded t…

…MSBase investigators. Some database analyses have suggested comparable long-term outcomes with or without treatment with a disease-modifying therapy. Accordingly, the MSBase registry was used to identify clinical and treatment-related predictors of long-term disability, as assessed by a change in EDSS score at 8 or 10 years (Jokubaitis et al. ECTRIMS 2015; P281). Eight and 10 year data were available for 2,148 and 1,480 subjects, respectively. Ove…

…he anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody is highly effective compared to interferon-beta-1a s.c. (Hauser et al. ECTRIMS 2015; abstract 190). OPERA I and II were concurrent phase III trials that randomized 1,656 subjects with relapsing MS to ocrelizumab 600 mg q24 weeks or IFNbeta-1a three times/week for 96 weeks. The primary endpoint was annualized relapse rate (ARR). Ocrelizumab was dosed as two 300 mg infusions on days 1 and 15, followed by 600 mg infus…

…that fingolimod-treated patients were four-fold more likely to achieve NEDA-4 compared to those on placebo (odds ratio 4.41) (Freedman et al. ECTRIMS 2015; abstract P626). The likelihood of NEDA-4 was higher in patients aged < 30 years (OR 6.37), >2 relapses in the prior two years (OR 5.48), and baseline EDSS score >3.5 (OR 8.20), suggesting that younger patients and those with significant disease activity would obtain the most benefit from therap…