“Impressive results” in stem cell treatment for multiple sclerosis

Aggressive immunosuppression followed by autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT) halted clinical relapses and the development of new brain lesions for a prolonged period in most patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) taking part in a small early stage trial, results published in the Lancet have shown.1

Some 23 of the 24 patients taking part in the phase II trial showed no further clinical relapses or development of new brain lesions. And eight of those 23 showed sustained improvement in disability an average of 7.5 years after the stem cell transplant, which is the first therapeutic approach to achieve this level of disease control or neurological …