title: [Review of the novelties presented at the 26th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) (II)].
abstract: The new insights presented at European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), held in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, in October 2010, have been summarized at the third edition of Post-ECTRIMS meeting held in Madrid in November 2010. Encouraging findings from the 5-years follow up extension from PreCISe study confirm the benefit of early treatment with glatiramer acetate in patients with clinically isolated syndromes (CIS) against the conversion to clinically definitive multiple sclerosis and cerebral atrophy with an adequate safety and tolerability. Regarding treatment decision with escalation or induction therapy, different strategies have been proposed depending on to the characteristics of the individual patient with CIS. Findings from several of the reported studies have revealed the favorable role of combined therapy on relapse rate but not on magnetic resonance parameters in patients with recurrent-remittent multiple sclerosis. Novel therapies such as alemtuzumab, daclizumab ofatutumab or ocrelizumab have shown promising findings regarding efficacy. Nevertheless, safety findings for these emerging therapies have detected some severe adverse events, the main ones being potentially fatal opportunistic infections such as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) caused by JC virus, mainly linked to natalizumab treatment. In this regard, clinicians will face the assessment of he benefit-risk ratio when deciding on the adequate treatment for each patient in the clinical setting. In this regard, determination of antibodies to JC virus by a novel two-step enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) could provide clinicians with a useful tool to stratify PML risk in patients. Regarding non pharmacologic therapies, behavioral intervention has emerged as an effective therapy in the treatment of depression in multiple sclerosis, showing additional benefits on fatigue, disability and adherence to treatment.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitario Carlos Haya, 29190 Malaga, Espana. oscar.fernandez.sspa@juntadeandalucia.es
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Fernandez
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Alvarez-Cermeno
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arbizu-Urdiain
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arroyo-Gonzalez
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arnal-Garcia
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Casanova-Estruch
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Calles-Hernandez
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Coret-Ferrer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Comabella
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Garcia-Merino
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: de Las Heras
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Izquierdo
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Meca-Lallana
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Munoz-Garcia
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Olascoaga
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oreja-Guevara
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Prieto
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Antiguedad
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tintore
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Montalban
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D013548:Sweden; D036302:Therapeutic Human Experimentation
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal