title: Predictors of disease activity in 857 patients with MS treated with interferon beta-1b.
abstract: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating neurodegenerative disease of the CNS that requires long-term treatment. The identification of patient characteristics that can help predict disease outcomes could improve care for patients with MS. The objective of this study is to identify predictors of disease activity in patients from the BEYOND trial. This regression analysis of patients with relapsing-remitting MS from BEYOND examined the predictive value of patient characteristics at baseline and after 1 year of treatment with interferon beta-1b 250 μg every other day for clinical and MRI outcomes after year 1 of the study. 857 and 765 patients were included in the analyses of clinical and MRI outcomes, respectively. In multivariate analyses of age, a higher number of relapses in the past 2 years, ≥3 new MRI lesions in the first year, and, especially, a higher number of relapses in year 1 predicted the future occurrence of relapses. By contrast, age, MRI activity, and the presence of neutralizing antibodies in the first year were principally predictive of future MRI activity. In patients with continued clinical disease activity or substantial MRI activity on therapy, an alternative therapeutic approach should be strongly considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany. Hans-Peter.Hartung@uni-duesseldorf.de.
authors.forename: Hans-Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Hartung
authors.affiliation: Neurology, University of Basel and University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ludwig
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kappos
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Goodin
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, St. Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Filippi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Chicago Surgery Brain Research Institutes, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arnason
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Institute of Experimental Neurology, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Comi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Neurosciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jeffery
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Petkau
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: Bayer Pharma AG, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Timon
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bogumil
authors.affiliation: Bayer Pharma AG, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Karola
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Beckmann
authors.affiliation: Bayer Pharma AG, Berlin, Germany.|Department of Neurology, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stemper
authors.affiliation: Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Whippany, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Suarez
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.|Bayer Pharma AG, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Rupert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sandbrink
authors.affiliation: Bayer Pharma AG, Berlin, Germany.|Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pohl
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D000068576:Interferon beta-1b / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000068576:Interferon beta-1b
keywords: Interferon beta-1b; MRI lesion; Multiple sclerosis; Predictor; Relapse