title: Overview of London trial of intramuscular interferon-beta Ia in primary-progressive multiple sclerosis.
abstract: This short monograph describes the rationale, design and outcome of a pilot study of beta interferon in patients with primary progressive MS. A total of 50 patients were studied for 2 years using a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled design. There was an emphasis on using MRI measures to evaluate outcome. The study showed that with the numbers studied, useful data could be obtained on safety and on efficacy on certain MRI measures. A larger study would be required to evaluate treatment on disability in this patient cohort and further work is needed to elucidate the relationship between quantitative MR and clinical measures over the longer term.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK. d.miller@ion.ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Siobhan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Leary
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D000068556:Interferon beta-1a; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008131:London; D020528:Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic Progressive / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D016899:Interferon-beta; D000068556:Interferon beta-1a