Expert Support

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MS Treatment Outcomes

There are several different kinds of disease-modifying drugs available for multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy. The scientific community, made up of doctors, nurses and researchers, is discussing how to better measure the effects of MS therapies on people with MS.

Disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) are designed to control the symptoms of MS and delay the progression of disease. Certain clinical assessments can help determine if a DMD helps cause the complete or partial absence of MS disease activity. It’s important to understand what these assessments are so you can provide your doctor with the information they need to more fully determine how you are responding to MS therapy.

Although there is no widely accepted way to see how well an MS therapy is working for a patient, there are two assessments that some doctors use to try to measure a patient’s response to MS therapy. The first way is with clinical assessments and the second is with radiological assessments.

With clinical assessments, a patient is assessed based on the presence or absence of relapses and disease progression.

A relapse is the appearance of new MS symptoms or the worsening of old MS symptoms. To be a true relapse, the attack must last for at least 24 hours and there must be at least 30 days since the last relapse. Most relapses last from a few days to several weeks or even months.¹

Disease progression is:¹
- An increase, for at least 12 weeks, of a minimum of 1.0 point in EDSS score from a baseline score of at least 1.0 point
- An increase, for at least 12 weeks, of a minimum of at least 1.5 points in EDSS score from a baseline score of at least 0.0 points

The radiological assessment is based on the amount of MRI activity.

MRI activity includes any new gadolinium-enhancing lesions and any new or enlarging T2-hyperintense lesions
- Gadolinium-enhancing lesions can be seen when the gadolinium dye enhances or lights up areas of the brain with active inflammation¹
- T2-hyperintense lesions represent the total number of lesions a person has even if they are not currently active and appear as bright spots on an MRI scan¹

Using both the clinical and radiological types of assessments, a neurologist could determine whether or not a patient on MS therapy is free of measurable disease activity. Although the scientific community has still not agreed on a standardized way to tell how well MS therapy is working for each patient, DMDs continue to help control the symptoms of MS and delay disease progression for many people.

1. Hardova E et al. Effect of natalizumab on clinical and radiological disease activity in multiple sclerosis: a retrospective analysis of the Natalizumab Safety and Efficacy in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (AFFIRM) study. Lancet Neurol 1009;8:254–60.