ECTRIMS Meeting in Montreal

New advances were presented at an international multiple sclerosis meeting (ECTRIMS/ACTRIMS/LACTRIMS) on September 17-20, 2008.

Some highlights:

In the Nordic trial, adding 200 mg of oral methylprednisilone (steroids) for 5 days every 4 weeks to Rebif resulted in 62% less relapses compared to Rebif alone in a study of 130 patients over 2 years.

The Tovaxin trial studied vaccinating people with their own T-immune cells after stimulating the cells with myelin proteins outside their body.  The 1 year study of 150 patients unfortunately failed to show a statistically significant benefit on MS relapses.

In a study from Israel, adult stem cells were taken out of MS patients’ bone marrow, stimulated outside their body with growth factors, and reinserted back into the spinal fluid and blood.  Out of 15 patients, the their average disability improve over 6 months from 6.7 to 5.9 on the 10 point EDSS disability scale.

Additional highlights from the meeting will be posted soon.  Check back!