Researchers say early interferon treatment cuts MS risk

The Schering-sponsored study, which was named BENEFIT, was a 487-patient, double-blinded, phase III trial. It is the only early two-year MS trial that utilized a high-dose, high-frequency interferon-beta therapy, which has already been shown to be superior to low dose/frequency regimens in patients with established relapsing-remitting disease.

Two-year data from the trial show that treatment with interferon beta-1b, at the earliest clinically identifiable time point in the evolution phase of the disease, reduced the risk of developing clinically definite multiple sclerosis (MS) by 50%, compared with patients who received a placebo drug.

In the study, over 85% of patients who did not receive the therapy but were on a placebo drug, went on to meet current diagnostic criteria for MS by either developing new MRI lesions or experiencing another clinical attack within two years of having their first clinical event. In contrast, patients who received the interferon beta-1b therapy were two times better protected against developing MS.

“Our study provides a strong rationale for the early use of early interferon beta-1b therapy after the first episode suggestive of MS,” said Dr Mark Freedman, of The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Canada. “The current thinking is that, by limiting the amount of axonal damage through early and effective therapy, we can postpone a person’s disability. The prime concern of people with MS is that they will become disabled in the next 10 to 20 years.”

The trial results were published in the journal Neurology.