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MS therapy shows promise in test.
A cancer drug greatly reduces brain lesions and relapses in patients
with the most common form of the disabling disease. An experimental
treatment for multiple sclerosis that targets a portion of the
immune system not previously subjected to therapy reduced damaging
lesions of the nervous system by 91% and relapses of the disease by
58%, researchers report today.
A single course of the drug, called rituximab, helped patients for the full 48 weeks of the trial and suggests a new way to treat relapsing-remitting MS, the most common form of the disabling disease. Researchers said they were still concerned about potential long-term side effects of the drug, which is used under the brand name Rituxan to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis, like MS an autoimmune disease. The findings also provide "important insights into the biology of the disease," wrote Dr. Henry F. McFarland of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke in an editorial accompanying the study in the New England Journal of Medicine. The results revealed an unexpected role for white blood cells called B cells in causing the damage produced by MS, opening the door to a number of potential new therapeutic strategies, he said. Six drugs are approved for treating relapsing-remitting MS, but their effectiveness is limited. All target the immune system's T cells, which attack and destroy viruses, abnormal cells and other foreign organisms. But recent research has suggested that B cells, which produce antibodies, also play a role in MS attacks. Dr. Stephen L. Hauser of UC San Francisco and colleagues at 31 other centers around the country decided to test rituximab because it targets B cells, particularly those with a receptor called CD20 on their surface. The researchers gave infusions of rituximab to 69 patients at the beginning of the study and again two weeks later, while 35 patients received a placebo. None were using other treatments for MS. Periodic MRI scans of study participants showed fewer new lesions in the brain. Improvements were noted within four weeks. By the end of 24 weeks, 14.5% of the patients receiving rituximab had suffered relapses, compared with 34.3% of those receiving a placebo. By 48 weeks, the corresponding figures were 20.3% and 40%. The findings "tell us that B-cell-directed therapies are enormously promising for future treatment," Hauser said. "Equally exciting, it tells us that B cells need to be front and center in our thinking about what makes MS happen in the first place." (Thomas H. Maugh II, LATimes, 14.2.08) Stephen L. Hauser, et al: B-Cell Depletion with Rituximab in Relapsing–Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (abstract). Rituximab Effective Against MS in Phase II Trial (medpagetoday, 13.2.08). Genentech spokeswoman Nikki Levy said the company decided to pursue ocrelizumab in place of rituximab for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. US scientists have repaired the nerve damage caused by multiple sclerosis in lab experiments on mice. The team, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, hope their work will eventually lead to new treatments. (BBC, 9.10.07). Multiple Sklerose: Thymusdrüse versagt bei Immunzellen-Produktion (July 2007)
AMSEL Multiple Sklerose News - 2-Jahres-Resultate von
Tysabri. Laut Meldung habe sich auch bestätigt, dass
der Wirkstoff die Anzahl klinischer Schübe um 67 Prozent
verringere und die Entwicklung neuer oder erneut vergrößerter
MRI-ermittelter Hirnläsionen verringere - Ergebnisse, die mit den Resultaten
des ersten Jahres übereinstimmen. Auszeichnung für Multiple Sklerose-Forscher. Prof. Steinkasserer gelang es, mit seiner Arbeitsgruppe in Laborversuchen weltweit erstmals nachzuweisen, dass mit Hilfe eines gentechnisch hergestellten CD83-Proteins die typischen Lähmungserscheinungen in einem MS-Modell, sowohl vorbeugend als auch therapeutisch, sehr effektiv gehemmt werden können (journalMED, 30.3.06). Der 26-jährige Branko Klepac, bekannter Basketballer von Alba, ist an Multipler Sklerose (MS) erkrankt.Sein wichtigster Kampf Rudolf
Bertlwieser erzählt in seiner Autobiografie seine Geschichte.
Er will damit Menschen, die an MS oder einer anderen chronischen
Erkrankung leiden, genauso wie deren Angehörigen und Pflegenden, Mut
machen. MS MS-Gateway (Schering AG) AMSEL
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