58 msfocusmagazine.org Medicine & Research Australian Advances May Better Diagnose and Treat MS By Ellen Whipple, Pharm.D. Two recent reports from Australia suggest that major advances could be forthcoming as a result of multiple sclerosis research. The first involves a simple blood test that could identify the type of multiple sclerosis that patients have, and predict if their currently prescribed disease-modifying therapy is working. The second report involves an innovative new treatment where a DNA enzyme could target the inflammation MS causes. According to Dr. Ben W. Thrower, medical director of the MS Institute at the Shepherd Center, “Taken together, these reports are very exciting and could potentially change how MS is diagnosed, treated, and managed!” During the past decade, terms such as “biomarkers,” “targeted therapies,” and “immune therapies” have changed how many cancers are treated and managed. Each night, during prime time television, ads for drugs used to modify the immune system of cancer patients run constantly. While these drugs each have a unique mechanism of action, they all have one thing in common – they work by identifying biomarkers and use targeted therapies to affect the biomarker in some way. An example would be the BRCA gene and ovarian cancer. Patientswith ovarian cancer, who are BRCA-mutation positive, have increased survival when a drug known as olaparib is used. This drug is able to specifically target cancer cells that possess the BRCA gene. A lot of effort has been made during the RX Update