Key clinical point: The use, type, and timing of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients may lead to secondary progressive MS.
Major finding: RRMS patients beginning DMTs of fingolimod, alemtuzumab, or natalizumab had a lower chance of secondary progressive MS, whereas patients taking glatiramer acetate or interferon beta had a higher chance.
Study details: This was a cohort study that examined 1,555 RRMS patients (1,123 females) across 21 countries that began DMTs (interferon beta, glatiramer acetate, fingolimod, natalizumab, or alemtuzumab) between 1988 and 2012.
Disclosures: This study was financially supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the University of Melbourne, a Next Generation Fellowship funded by the Grand Charity of the Freemason’s, and the MSBase 2017 Fellowship. Alemtuzumab studies done in Cambridge were supported by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre and the MS Society UK.
Citation: Brown JWL, et al. JAMA. 2019;321(2):175-187. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.20588 .