Promising treatments

[iKat]

Why is it every time I see a treatment that is supposed to be great always involved high doses of chemo? Stem Cell, Bone marrow transplants, lemtrada etc...

is this the future for MS treatments?

[centenarian100]

Why is it every time I see a treatment that is supposed to be great always involved high doses of chemo? Stem Cell, Bone marrow transplants, lemtrada etc...

is this the future for MS treatments?

Unfortunately, there seems to be a correlation between toxicity and efficacy when it comes to multiple sclerosis pharmaceuticals.

Hopefully, we will learn more about the underlying mechanisms of MS and developed more targeted therapies with few side effects.

Some treatments with reasonable efficacy and safety would be tysabri (if you are JCV ab negative) and maybe rituxan and gilenya.

[iKat]

I had MS for abpout 20 years with no disability. But now I had a relapse a year ago and this year I am having trouble such as fatigue and shaking. I talked to Chicago for the past year and now they are considering me for HSCT. They said it's a small window and I cant take too much time to think about it. But I am worried about having such a treatment, but if I pass my options do not seem so great. they said the HSCT is a curative, the other treatments arent.'

[centenarian100]

I had MS for about 20 years with no disability. But now I had a relapse a year ago and this year I am having trouble such as fatigue and shaking. I talked to Chicago for the past year and now they are considering me for HSCT. They said it's a small window and I cant take too much time to think about it. But I am worried about having such a treatment, but if I pass my options do not seem so great. they said the HSCT is a curative, the other treatments arent.'

I'm not sure what the basis of their statement is in saying that hematopoeitic stem cell transplant is curative in MS.

Certainly, HSCT has achieved long term remission in relapsing MS in some patients.

However, I am not aware of any evidence that HSCT prevents the development of secondary progressive MS.

There are failed studies on HSCT in progressive MS

For instance:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12842989

" Our experience suggests that intense immune suppression using a total body irradiation (TBI)-based regimen and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) are not effective for patients with progressive disease and high pretransplantation disability scores."

This from Dr. Burt, a well known expert on the subject at Northwestern.

Usually, HSCT is used for people with highly active relapsing disease that does not respond to less dangerous treatment.

This not not to say you shouldn't do it, but as cheerleader would say, "let the buyer beware"

[iKat]

My MS was not active for many years, no progression or lesions. Last year they thought i had a stroke, came out it was actually a MS relapse. I would only spasm and slur and my face would droop if I moved a certain way. Got to the point I couldn't hardly move without going into a spasm. I recovered but now I am tired, ache all the time, right hand shakes if I use it too much. I will be 50 this year. I will not have a lot of options as I get older.

It's hard for me because I have a 6 and 7 year old. They were unplanned and thats when my MS flared up.