SAN DIEGO – Baseline Expanded Disability Status Scale scores and number of relapses during the first year were the most consistent predictors of disability worsening or relapses over the subsequent 3 years in long-term analysis of three phase 3 fingolimod trials.
Those patients identified at higher risk for worse long-term clinical outcomes could benefit from an early review of multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment regimens to help prevent worsening disability, Pavle Repovic, MD, PhD, said in an interview.
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Dr. Pavle Repovic
“The idea for some time now has been to figure out what will tell whether a patient is responding to a therapy early on or not,” Dr. Repovic said at ACTRIMS Forum 2018, held by the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis.
To explore long-term clinical predictors of disability progression and relapse risk, Dr. Repovic and his colleagues analyzed three phase 3 trials assessing fingolimod (Gilenya). They evaluated parameters at baseline and during the first year of the FREEDOMS, FREEDOMS II, and TRANSFORMS studies.