A new cancer drug, alemtuzumab, has shown better results in treating multiple sclerosis (MS) than the traditional treatment, according to a study published in the medical journal Lancet (November 1).
Researchers at the University of Cambridge compared alemtuzumab with the usual MS drug, interferon beta-1a, in two trials: in the first, the drugs were given following diagnosis; in the second, the drugs were given after other treatments had failed.
In the first trial, alemtuzumab proved better at preventing relapses (evident when MS symptoms appear sporadically) as its subjects had a 22% rate of relapse, whereas the subjects who took interferon beta-1a had a 40% rate of relapse. In the second trial, the relapse rates were 35% and 51%, respectively.
"Finding promising treatments such as alemtuzumab is important. But so is keeping alemtuzumab accessible and affordable if its early success in these trials proves to be of enduring value," said an editorial published along with the study.
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