Researchers at Northwestern University tested a more drastic option, wiping out a patient's immune system with chemotherapy, then rebuilding it from the patient's own stored stem cells, in a randomized trial against the best available drug therapy.
Among 110 patients with relapsing MS followed for an average of nearly three years, disease progression occurred in only 3 of the stem-cell patients compared with 34 of those on standard drug therapy, a roughly 93 percent reduction in risk.
Disability scores actually improved in the transplant group while they worsened on standard drugs, though the chemotherapy carries real short-term risks and a small chance of serious complications. The trial covered 110 patients at centers in several countries, and longer follow-up and larger studies are still needed before the approach could become routine instead of a last resort.
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Three progressions versus thirty-four.
Source
- Burt, R. K., Balabanov, R., Burman, J., Sharrack, B., Snowden, J. A., Oliveira, M. C., Fagius, J., Rose, J., Nelson, F., Barreira, A. A., Carlson, K., Han, X., Moraes, D., Morgan, A., Quigley, K., Yaung, K., Buckley, R., Alldredge, C., Clendenan, A., . . . Helenowski, I. B. (2019). Effect of Nonmyeloablative Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation vs Continued Disease-Modifying Therapy on Disease Progression in Patients With Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA, 321(2), 165–174. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.18743