Mitoxantrone treatment in patients with early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

¹ Centro Sclerosi Multipla, Dipartimento di. Scienze Cardiovascolari e Neurologiche, University of Cagliari, Italy
² Department of Public Health, University of Cagliari, Italy
³ Department of Critical Area, University of Florence, Italy

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

	Abstract

We investigated the clinical and MRI effects of mitoxantrone (MITOX) administered to 45 patients during the first five years of highly active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Differences occurring between the end of treatment and follow-up (clinical mean: 3.6 years; brain MR: 1.8 years) with respect to baseline variables (EDSS, annualized relapse rate, active T2 lesions, new T1 lesions and number of Gd-enhancing lesions) were analysed using parametric and non-parametric tests. One patient developed leukemia four months after the end of the treatment; no other serious adverse events occurred during treatment and the follow-up period. A clinically relevant reduction in the annualized relapse rate (P<0.0001 at end of treatment and P<0.0001 at follow-up) and improvement in the EDSS (P<0.0001 at end of treatment and P=0.0005 at follow-up) was found. At the end of treatment, 53% of patients experienced no increase in active T2 lesions, while 73% showed no increase in the number of new T1 lesions. At follow-up, 41 out of 45 (91%) patients showed a stable MRI pattern and were active-scan free. Despite potential serious adverse events, MITOX may be considered an option in selected patients with very active early MS. Multiple Sclerosis 2007; 00: 000-000. http://msj.sagepub.com

Key Words: brain MRI; disability; early stage; mitoxantrone; multiple sclerosis

First published on April 27, 2007, doi:10.1177/1352458507077621

Multiple Sclerosis 2007;13:975.

A more recent version of this article appeared on September 1, 2007


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