MS slowed in test with cancer drug A cancer drug greatly reduces
brain lesions and relapses in patients with the most common form
of the disabling disease. An experimental treatment for multiple
sclerosis that targets a portion of the immune system not
previously subjected to therapy reduced damaging lesions of the
nervous system by 91% and relapses of the disease by 58%,
researchers report today. A single course of the drug, called
rituximab, helped patients for the full 48 weeks of the trial
and suggests a new way to treat relapsing-remitting MS, the most
common form of the disabling disease. Researchers said they were
still concerned about potential long-term side effects of the
drug, which is used under the brand name Rituxan to treat non-
Hodgkin’s lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis, like MS an
autoimmune disease. If its safety and efficacy can be confirmed
in a larger study, rituximab “looks like it will be a strong
addition to our armamentarium for treating MS,” said Dr. John
Rickert, executive vice pres