BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision.

The symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from person to person. People with MS typically experience one of four disease courses. The most common are:

Relapsing-Remitting MS: People with this type experience clearly defined attacks of worsening neurologic function. Sometimes people recovery from the attacks and go into remission. About 85 percent of people are initially diagnosed with this type.

Primary-Progressive MS: Characterized by slowly worsening neurologic function from the beginning, with no relapses or remissions. The rate of progression may vary over time, with temporary minor improvements. About 10 percent of people are diagnosed with this type.

Secondary-Progressive MS: What many people develop following an initial period of relapsing-remitting MS. This disease course is when the condition worsens more steadily, or without remissions. Before the disease-modifying medication became available, about 50 percent of people developed this form of the disease within ten years.

Progressive-Relapsing MS: A relatively rare course that about 5 percent of patients experience. It involves steadily worsening disease from the beginning, with attacks of worsening neurologic function along the way.

NEW TREATMENTS: A recent phase II study showed that alemtuzumab, or Campath, was over 70 percent more effective than high dose, high frequency beta interferon. This means that the chemotherapy drug proved to be much more effective than the current treatment for relapsing-remitting MS.

"This is exciting because this is a whole quantum leap forward," Daniel Kantor, M.D., Director of the Comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Center at the University of Florida in Jacksonville, said. "It is not simply better than placebo, but better than one of the standard medicines." The drug is administered through IV infusion, and for the first year patients get five days of infusions. Dr. Kantor says it works by pushing down the white blood cells that cause inflammation and damage in MS.

RISKS: Campath carries the risk of causing autoimmune thyroid disease and excessive bleeding. Dr. Kantor says each patient should discuss the risks and benefits with his or her doctor. Phase III trails for MS are underway, but the drug is not yet approved by the FDA for MS patients.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Daniel Kantor, M.D.
(904) 537-0248
mstar.mspn@gmail.com