title: Alemtuzumab improves quality-of-life outcomes compared with subcutaneous interferon beta-1a in patients with active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alemtuzumab was superior on clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcomes versus subcutaneous interferon beta-1a in phase 3 trials in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine quality-of-life (QoL) outcomes in the alemtuzumab phase 3 trials.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients who were treatment naive (Comparison of Alemtuzumab and Rebif®Efficacy in Multiple Sclerosis I [CARE-MS I]) or had an inadequate response to prior therapy (CARE-MS II) received annual courses of alemtuzumab 12 mg/day at baseline (5 days) and Month 12 (3 days) or subcutaneous interferon beta-1a 44 µg three times/week. QoL was measured every 6 or 12 months using Functional Assessment of Multiple Sclerosis (FAMS), European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) and its visual analog scale (EQ-VAS), and 36-Item Short-Form Survey (SF-36).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Statistically significant improvements from baseline with alemtuzumab were observed on all three QoL instruments at the earliest post-baseline assessment and sustained through Year 2. Statistically significant greater QoL improvements over subcutaneous interferon beta-1a were seen at all time points in CARE-MS II with FAMS, EQ-VAS and SF-36 physical component summary, and in CARE-MS I with FAMS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients treated with alemtuzumab had improvements in physical, mental, and emotional QoL regardless of treatment history. Improvements were significantly greater with alemtuzumab versus subcutaneous interferon beta-1a on both disease-specific and general measures of QoL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Hospital Universitario Quirónsalud, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arroyo González
authors.affiliation: Virginia Mason Hospital & Seattle Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kita
authors.affiliation: Multiple Sclerosis Center of Greater Washington, Vienna, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Crayton
authors.affiliation: MS Center, Department of Neurology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Havrdova
authors.affiliation: Sanofi Genzyme, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Margolin
authors.affiliation: Sanofi Genzyme, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Lake
authors.affiliation: Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Gavin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giovannoni
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000074323:Alemtuzumab / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000068556:Interferon beta-1a / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011788:Quality of Life; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D007155:Immunologic Factors; D000074323:Alemtuzumab; D000068556:Interferon beta-1a
keywords: Alemtuzumab; CD52 antigen; disease-modifying therapy; interferon beta-1a; multiple sclerosis; quality of life