Trial To Compare Stem Cell MS Treatment Against Four Leading Drugs

A new trial is set to research whether stem cell transplantation can provide an effective remedy for more aggressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Funded by the National Institute for Health and care Research and Medical Research Council, the £2.3 million StarMS study run by Sheffield University could transform the treatment of MS. The trial will compare the relative effectiveness and safety of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) with that of four commonly used and effective drug treatments.

It will build on the MIST trial, which showed stem cell transplants could reverse some disability in certain patients and could be more effective than drugs. MIST also showed that AHSCT was more effective in reducing the risk of disability in those where MS was more active.

Should the treatment prove more effective than the four drugs, it will inevitably be at the forefront of a major life science sales and marketing campaign as treatment providers seek the technology to carry out such therapies, with 100,000 sufferers in the UK alone and over two million globally.

Around 200 patients are set to be recruited for the trial, which will see AHSCT compared with Alemtuzumab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab and cladribine, none of which were around when the MIST trial took place.

Commenting on the trial, consultant haematologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Professor John Snowden said: “We hope to determine the exact place of AHSCT in the modern treatment pathways for patients with severe MS.”

He added that the study may also shed light on the “fundamental immune system abnormalities that cause MS in the first place”.

MS is listed by the NHS as one of the most common causes of disability among younger people. The condition is usually diagnosed when patients are in their 20s, 30s and 40s.

It is between two and three times more common among women than men.