summary: In relapsing-remitting MS, people can experience a period which can last for several years, characterised by the presence of acute relapses. Following this, a period of slow progression of disability may appear. Interferon (IFN) beta is one of the accepted drugs for MS, as it has been proven to reduce the relapse rate in people with MS and delay the appearance of a second relapse, when given after a first attack suggestive of MS. The authors aimed to investigate whether treatment with IFN beta, when administered after a first relapse, could also delay the progression of disability in people with MS. The authors followed two groups of people with MS for five years. One of these groups started IFN beta immediately after the first relapse and the other started the treatment after the second clinical relapse. They found that the risk for confirmed progression of disability was not lower in people who had started the treatment after the first relapse than in people who had started this treatment later, suggesting that IFN beta does not seem to delay the appearance of long-term disability.

authors: Kappos L, Freedman MS, Polman CH, Edan G, Hartung HP, Miller DH, Montalbán X, Barkhof F, Radü EW, Metzig C, Bauer L, Lanius V, Sandbrink R, Pohl C; for the BENEFIT Study Group

source: Lancet Neurol. 2009 Sep 10

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category: Clinical Trials and Therapeutics

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