PURPOSE OF REVIEW:
Understanding the mechanisms underlying progression in multiple sclerosis (MS) and identifying
appropriate therapeutic targets is a key challenge facing the MS community. This challenge has been
championed internationally by organizations such as the Progressive MS Alliance, which has raised the
profile of progressive MS and identified the key obstacles to treatment. This review will outline the
considerable progress against these challenges.
RECENT FINDINGS:
New insights into mechanisms underlying progression have opened up potential therapeutic opportunities.
This has been complemented by ongoing validation of clinical and imaging outcomes for Phase II trials of
progression, coupled with the development of innovative trial designs. The field has been greatly
encouraged by recent positive Phase III trials in both primary and secondary progressive MS, albeit with
modest benefit. Early trials of neuroprotection and repair have provided important new data with which to
drive the field. Improving symptom management and advancing rehabilitation approaches, critical for this
patient population which, taken together with identifying and managing comorbidities and risk factors, has
an appreciable impact on health-related quality of life.
SUMMARY:
Raising the profile of progressive MS has resulted in the first effective treatments with the promise of more
to come
