title: Clinical follow-up of 304 patients with multiple sclerosis three years after mitoxantrone treatment.
abstract: The objectives of this study were to assess the benefits of 1) mitoxantrone after three years of follow-up and 2) disease-modifying treatment (DMT) after stopping mitoxantrone. A retrospective analysis was performed on 304 patients with active relapsing-remitting (RR) or progressive multiple sclerosis (PMS) who were treated with mitoxantrone. After mitoxantrone therapy, some patients received DMT (interferon-beta or glatiramer acetate) while others did not. The disease course of the two groups was evaluated by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) before and after mitoxantrone and then every year for three years. The mean EDSS score at starting mitoxantrone and three years after stopping mitoxantrone respectively, were: 3.3 (1.3) and 3.2 (1.7) for the RRMS patients and 5.9 (1.2) and 6.4 (1.4) for the PMS patients. Before starting mitoxantrone, demographic and clinical parameters of predictive disability were not significantly different between patients who received DMT or not. The variation of EDSS between time of stopping mitoxantrone and three years later was significantly different (+0.9 versus +0.3; P=0.03) for patients with RRMS. We found that mitoxantrone treatment induces stable disease up to two years after discontinuation of mitoxantrone therapy. In the third year, patients without DMT deteriorated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Central Hospital, 54000 Nancy, France. m.debouverie@chu-nancy.fr
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Debouverie
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Taillandier
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pittion-Vouyovitch
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Louis
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vespignani
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D000068717:Glatiramer Acetate; D006801:Humans; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008942:Mitoxantrone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020528:Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic Progressive / Q000188:drug therapy*; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010455:Peptides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D007155:Immunologic Factors; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D010455:Peptides; D000068717:Glatiramer Acetate; D016899:Interferon-beta; D008942:Mitoxantrone