Patients dropping MS drug Tysabri face relapse risk
Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:55 am
Multiple sclerosis patients treated with natalizumab were more likely to discontinue therapy after learning of a positive JCV antibody result, only to see a higher risk for relapse, according to a small, single-center study reported here.
Of nine patients who discontinued natalizumab (Tysabri) after learning their antibody result, which indicated a heightened risk for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) -- a rare but life-threatening event -- five relapsed within 6 months, said Denise Cheng, RN, of Winthrop Comprehensive MS Care Center in Mineola, N.Y.
These patients may have assumed their MS was no longer active, as opposed to a continuing disease process that was suppressed by the natalizumab treatment, Cheng said at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting....Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... ageid/1768