title: The PROMiSe trial: baseline data review and progress report.
abstract: The PROMiSe trial is a multinational, multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluating the effects of glatiramer acetate treatment over 3 years in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). A total of 943 patients were enrolled, and all those remaining on-study had completed at least 24 months as of October 2002. Baseline clinical and MRI characteristics and select correlations are reported here. A total of 3.9% of patients exhibited confirmed relapse over 1904 patient-years of exposure, indicating success of efforts to exclude relapsing MS types. Of the 26.3% of patients who have prematurely withdrawn from the study, only 36% discontinued after meeting the study primary endpoint of disease progression. The progression rate in patients in the low Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) stratum (3.0-5.0) observed thus far is markedly lower than the 50% annual progression rate estimate used for determining size and statistical power of the trial; progression was observed in 16.1% of patients with 12 months of study exposure. These early findings raise some concern about the ability of the trial to demonstrate a significant treatment effect, and suggest that the short-term natural history of PPMS may not be as aggressive as previously assumed.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA. jswolinsky@aol.com
authors.forename: Jerry S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Wolinsky
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018849:Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic; D000068717:Glatiramer Acetate; D006801:Humans; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D020528:Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic Progressive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D010455:Peptides / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D010455:Peptides; D000068717:Glatiramer Acetate