Beta Interferon Treatment Shown to Improve Long-Term Survival in Patients with MS
In the first and largest study of its kind, researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute aimed to assess mortality associated with beta interferons for the treatment of MS.
A new study indicates that beta interferons, one of the most commonly prescribed disease-modifying drugs for multiple sclerosis (MS), may be tied to improved survival outcomes in patients.
In the first and largest study of its kind, researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute aimed to assess mortality associated with beta interferons for the treatment of MS. The study, which was published in Brain, found that patients taking beta interferons had a longer survival rate than those who did not take the drug, with the strongest effect seen in patients who took beta interferons for more than 3 years.
Beta interferons were the first drugs approved for the treatment of relapsing-onset MS, which is the most common frm of the disease. With proven long-term efficacy and safety, beta interferons have been a mainstay of MS treatment since the 1990s.
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