- March 20, 2018
- Posted by: PharmaScroll
- Category:
Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder that occurs in Central nervous system of the body and leads to the destruction of the fatty protective substance called Myelin, which acts as an insulation for the nerve cells carrying the messages between the brain and the rest of the body. Myelin facilitates the speedy and smooth transmission of nerve messages. The damage to the Myelin layer leads to slow and less efficient delivery of messages thereby causing relapses and increasing disability in the patients.
MS has impacted the lives of around 2.5 million people across the globe and in the US alone there are more than 4 lacs cases of MS. Women are twice more likely to be suffering from Multiple sclerosis as compared to men.
The historical research conducted in MS has led to more than 15 medications being introduced in the Multiple Sclerosis markets, the latest one being Ocrelizumab and Mavenclad. There have been great developments in the MS space which have led to increased efficacy of the Disease Modifying drugs and have led to patients and physicians better control the disease. However, patients and physicians are still looking out for options which can completely halt the disease or can reduce the progression of the disease in a major way.
The wait could now well be over with a major advancement in Multiple Sclerosis research. Physicians claim that they have achieved a major breakthrough in the MS treatment on Sunday, March 18th. A recent trial conducted on Multiple Sclerosis patients has found that the Stem Cell Transplant treatment could be a “Game Changer” for Multiple Sclerosis patients and can reduce the disability in MS patients to a great extent and can help in halting the progression of the disease. The treatment involves wiping out the MS Patient’s immune system by the use of Cancel drugs and then reinstating the system with a Stem Cell Transplant.
As per the reports from BBC, the trial was conducted in over 100 patients, all of whom were suffering from Relapsing form of Multiple Sclerosis. Some of the patients in the trial were treated with Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and the others were treated with conventional MS drugs. BBC further reports that after an year of treatment, just 1 relapse was observed among the 52 patients who were given Stem cell treatment and after an average follow up of 3 years, only 6 percent of the patients failed on the stem cell treatment. On the other hand, 39 out of the 50 patients patients who were given conventional drug treatments experienced relapse within a year and the treatment failed for 60 per cent patients in the average follow up period of 3 years.
The results were made available at the annual meeting of European Society for Bone and Marrow Transplantation in Lisbon. The doctors involved in the trial are thrilled with the results and are considering the treatment as game changer in the MS treatment landscape.
There has been a concentrated effort ongoing by the researchers to improve the treatment options in MS so that the patients can be released of the sufferings. The Stem cell treatment, if it shows promise on the larger population of MS patients, would definitely be the new ray of hope for the MS patients and physicians.
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