b"Medicine & Research Doctors NotesThe MS News column includes analysis from BenThrower, M.D., MS Focus senior medical advisor. He drawsfrom the top news stories of the quarter and explainswhat the news means to you, the person with MS.Christine Willis, MLIS, AHIP, is the Clinical InformationLibrarian at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, EglestonHospital.Study: Stem cell treatment stopped person with MS has no relapses, no new lesionsprogression from worseningon MRI, and no progression of disability. OneA study by researchers based at the Department school of thought for choosing a therapy isof Neurology, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, called Escalation Therapy. Here, a therapy withGenetics,MaternalandChildHealthand modest eectiveness and great safety is chosen.Biostatistics Unit, at the University of Genoa, If this DMT does not achieve NEDA, then ain Italy, reviewed the records of 210 patients more eective one is chosen. An alternativefrom 1997 to 2019 who underwent an autologous paradigm is called Induction Therapy. Here,hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Of we choose a DMT with higher ecacy thatnote is that 74.8 percent of the patients were may also come with more side-eect risks.treated using the BEAM+ATG post-transplant Many MS Centers are moving towards theconditioning regimen. The purpose was to Induction Therapy camp in hopes of quicklydetermine if aHSCT can prevent worsening achieving NEDA for people with MS.disability for those with aggressive MS. After As we think about highly eective therapies,review of the available medical records, including onecouldarguethatHSCTispotentiallytreatments received, EDSS scores, occurrences among the most eective. This Italian studyof relapse, MRI activity, no-evidence-of- demonstrates that most people treated withdisease-activity status, and early transplant HSCThadnoprogressionoftheirMS10mortality, 65.5 percent of patients were free of years after the procedure. HSCT does comedisability worsening 10 years after transplant. with risks and we are also learning how toFor those patients with RRMS there was a choose the best candidates for the procedure.greater than 70 percent disability worsening- Data from other HSCT sites has suggestedfree survival especially for those who received that the ideal candidate for HSCT is a personaHSCT early on in the course of the disease. with RRMS under the age of 50 with their MSThe study was published in the journalNeurology. diagnosed within the past ve years. Ideally,Dr. ThrowerAs more therapies become they would have an aggressive inammatoryavailable for MS, decisions must be made course, i.e. active lesions on MRI and/orabout which one is best for a given individual. active relapses. Two paradigms are currently used in helping Stay tuned. I do think it is possible thatselect a treatment. The goal of any disease- HSCT could be a more commonly used therapymodifying therapy is NEDA. This means the as we learn more about it.53 msfocusmagazine.org"