b"Medicine & ResearchDoctors NotesThe MS News column includes analysis from Ben Thrower, M.D., MS Focus senior medical advisor. He draws from the top news stories of the quarter and explains what the news means to you, the person with MS. Christine Willis, MLIS, AHIP, is the Clinical Information Librarian at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Egleston Hospital.Study: Stem cell therapyquickly and accurately. We want to initiate a highly effectivedisease-modifying therapy early in most cases. An international team of researchersWe want to choose a DMT that is both effective gathered data from multiple sclerosis centersand safe. We now have several DMT options around the world between May 2006 andto choose from, each with its own degree December 2021. The 4915 patients studiedof effectiveness and safety. One of the most were diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS.effective therapies being studied is autologous They were placed into study groups thathematopoietic stem cell transplantation. With becamethreeclinicaltrialtypestudiestothis procedure, the person with MS is essentially compare autologous hematopoietic stem cellgiven a fresh immune system. In this study transplantation (167 patients) with ocrelizumabof people with a relapsing form of MS, AHSCT (700 patients), natalizumab (1490 patients),was compared to two highly effective MS and ngolimod (2558 patients). The annualizedtherapies (ocrelizumab and natalizumab) and relapse rate and whether patients were freeone moderately effective therapy (ngolimod). from disability worsening and showedAHSCT was shown to substantially reduce improvement were the measures of successrelapseratescomparedtongolimodand for these treatment options. The researcherswas a bit more effective than natalizumab. made several notes about their work includingRecovery from relapses was also better with that there are several ongoing studies to compareAHSCT than ngolimod and natalizumab. No AHSCT with comparable disease-modifyingclinical differences were seen between AHSCT medications. Almost one-third of patientsand ocrelizumab. AHSCT is a highly effective developed infection complications. A main studytherapy for relapsing forms of MS. This limitation is its lack of true randomization,procedure is not yet FDA-approved in the U.S., and MRI information not included forbut I expect it will be in the future. comparison because it was not included inSome cognitive challenges more than half of the reviewed data. After datamay be rooted in depressionanalysis of DMT outcomes, the researchersA recent study looked at people with a new found that AHSCT is highly effective. Thediagnosis of MS at a center in Italy from ndings were published in JAMA Neurology.March and October 2021. Two hundred people Thrower -As our management of MS haswere included in the study, 128 females, with evolved over the years, three guiding principlesan average age of 40. Most of the participants have emerged. We want to diagnose MShad relapsing-remitting MS. The three tests msfocusmagazine.org 52"