MS patients could be offered stem cell transplants as a first-line treatment in new world-first trial
A world-first trial is investigating if stem cell transplantation could be used in patients with aggressive multiple sclerosis (MS) as a first-line treatment.
A world-first trial investigating if stem cell transplantation could be used in patients with 'aggressive' multiple sclerosis (MS) as a first-line treatment.
The study launched by the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will trial the pioneering therapy in patients with highly active MS which is not responding to drug treatment or as a first-line treatment for patients with the aggressive form of the inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease.
The £2.3m StarMS study, which has already opened its doors to patients in Sheffield, is now being launched in multiple sites across the UK. It will be the first to compare how effectively autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) is when compared with four other highly effective drug treatments which have shown great promise in clinical trials (alemtuzumab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab and cladribine).
The trial will build on the results of the landmark MIST trial which was the first in the world to show that stem cell transplantation could reverse disability in patients with MS. This trial also showed that AHSCT worked better than the disease-modifying drugs available at the time in reducing the risk of disability accumulation in patients with the highly active form of the disease.
However, advances in treatment options for patients with multiple sclerosis have been rapid since the initial trial, with the highly effective disease-modifying therapies alemtuzumab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab and cladribine showing that they can reduce disease activity and disability accumulation in clinical trials.
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