Variability of the response to immunotherapy among subgroups of patients with multiple sclerosis

Ibrahima Diouf, Charles B. Malpas, Sifat Sharmin, Izanne Roos, Dana Horakova, Eva Kubala Havrdova, Francesco Patti, Vahid Shaygannejad, Serkan Ozakbas, Guillermo Izquierdo, Sara Eichau, Marco Onofrj, Alessandra Lugaresi, Raed Alroughani, Alexandre Prat, Marc Girard, Pierre Duquette, Murat Terzi, Cavit Boz, Francois Grand'MaisonSherif Hamdy, Patrizia Sola, Diana Ferraro, Pierre Grammond, Recai Turkoglu, Katherine Buzzard, Olga Skibina, Bassem Yamout, Ayse Altintas, Oliver Gerlach, Vincent van Pesch, Yolanda Blanco, Davide Maimone, Jeannette Lechner-Scott, Roberto Bergamaschi, Rana Karabudak, Gerardo Iuliano, Chris McGuigan, Elisabetta Cartechini, Michael Barnett, Stella Hughes, Maria José Sa, Claudio Solaro, Ludwig Kappos, Cristina Ramo-Tello, Edgardo Cristiano, Suzanne Hodgkinson, Daniele Spitaleri, Aysun Soysal, Thor Petersen, Mark Slee, Ernest Butler, Franco Granella, Koen de Gans, Pamela McCombe, Radek Ampapa, Bart Van Wijmeersch, Anneke van der Walt, Helmut Butzkueven, Julie Prevost, L. G.F. Sinnige, Jose Luis Sanchez-Menoyo, Steve Vucic, Guy Laureys, Liesbeth Van Hijfte, Dheeraj Khurana, Richard Macdonell, Riadh Gouider, Tamara Castillo-Triviño, Orla Gray, Eduardo Aguera-Morales, Abdullah Al-Asmi, Cameron Shaw, Norma Deri, Talal Al-Harbi, Yara Fragoso, Tunde Csepany, Angel Perez Sempere, Irene Trevino-Frenk, Jan Schepel, Fraser Moore, Tomas Kalincik*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Background and purpose: This study assessed the effect of patient characteristics on the response to disease-modifying therapy (DMT) in multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: We extracted data from 61,810 patients from 135 centers across 35 countries from the MSBase registry. The selection criteria were: clinically isolated syndrome or definite MS, follow-up ≥ 1 year, and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score ≥ 3, with ≥1 score recorded per year. Marginal structural models with interaction terms were used to compare the hazards of 12-month confirmed worsening and improvement of disability, and the incidence of relapses between treated and untreated patients stratified by their characteristics. Results: Among 24,344 patients with relapsing MS, those on DMTs experienced 48% reduction in relapse incidence (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.45–0.60), 46% lower risk of disability worsening (HR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.41–0.71), and 32% greater chance of disability improvement (HR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.09–1.59). The effect of DMTs on EDSS worsening and improvement and the risk of relapses was attenuated with more severe disability. The magnitude of the effect of DMT on suppressing relapses declined with higher prior relapse rate and prior cerebral magnetic resonance imaging activity. We did not find any evidence for the effect of age on the effectiveness of DMT. After inclusion of 1985 participants with progressive MS, the effect of DMT on disability mostly depended on MS phenotype, whereas its effect on relapses was driven mainly by prior relapse activity. Conclusions: DMT is generally most effective among patients with lower disability and in relapsing MS phenotypes. There is no evidence of attenuation of the effect of DMT with age.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1014-1024
Number of pages11
JournalEuropean Journal of Neurology
Volume30
Issue number4
Early online dateJan 24 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 16 2023

Keywords

  • EDSS
  • immunotherapy
  • marginal structural model
  • multiple sclerosis
  • relapse
  • Multiple Sclerosis/therapy
  • Recurrence
  • Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic Progressive
  • Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting
  • Humans
  • Immunotherapy
  • Proportional Hazards Models

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neurology
  • Clinical Neurology

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