The Future of Multiple Sclerosis Research and Treatments
Since the 1993 approval of the first disease-modifying therapy for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, research has grown exponentially.
In addition to the development of several different types of medications shown to slow MS disease activity and delay disease progression, researchers and healthcare professionals, hospitals and university medical centers, pharmaceutical companies, as well as MS organizations such as MSAA, have looked into virtually every aspect of the disease and the people it affects. And with every new discovery comes countless more studies, heading in new directions and exploring uncharted areas of research, and bringing us closer to eventually identifying a cause and a cure.
One area of research that is playing an ever-expanding role in the diagnosis, evaluation, and development of treatments for MS, is the study of biomarkers. A biomarker is something that can be measured to give us meaningful information about a patient’s health.
In MS, this can include imaging or radiological findings, most notably on an MRI, as well as humoral biomarkers, with “humoral” referring to bodily fluids. Often relating to antibodies and immune responses, these include substances found in the blood or cerebrospinal fluid. Biomarkers will surely be an important part of future research and the development of treatments in MS.
Currently, disease-modifying therapies for the treatment of MS largely work to modulate or suppress the immune system’s attack on the nerves of the central nervous system. Examples of how some of these medications work include reducing the body’s immune response, blocking potentially damaging immune-system cells (lymphocytes) from leaving lymph nodes, and depleting white blood cells called B cells.
Some medications may have antiviral, anti-inflammatory, or neuroprotective properties. And these disease-modifying therapies for MS are administered in different ways – by injection, by mouth (orally), or infused into the bloodstream – depending on which medication is being administered.
What do we see for the future of disease-modifying therapies for the treatment of MS? As we learn more from research about the disease process, treatments with more specific targets will be developed. They may be extensions of treatments we already have in place, or they may be completely different treatments than we’ve seen in the past, working in novel ways to disrupt the cascade of events leading to the development of MS, as well as those events leading to the damage it causes.
Administering medications may also evolve, as some infused medications may possibly be reformulated to work as an injection, or some injected medications may possibly be reformulated to work orally. New modes of administration are also possible in the future.
In addition, as we fine-tune treatments for MS, researchers may find that certain treatment approaches work better for certain subgroups of people with MS and not as well for others – looking at different demographics such as age, weight, lifestyle, gender, and race. Where someone lives and access to care are also important areas of study to discover what works best for individuals with MS.
Since 1993, when the first disease-modifying therapy for MS was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), research into the disease process and its potential treatments has been both prolific and revealing. Everyone in the MS community and this field of research look forward to even greater discoveries and treatments for all individuals affected by this often perplexing disorder known as “MS.”