Long-term effect of immediate versus delayed treatment with fingolimod in young adult patients with RR-RS
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that mainly affects young adults. It is the most common potentially debilitating neurological disease leading to a reduction in patients' quality of life.
Treatment for relapsing-remitting MS (RR-RS) has made significant progress in recent years. The importance of early initiation of MS therapy for the further prognosis of the patient is indicated by long-term data.
With the advent of new highly effective drugs, there is a growing debate about which optimal treatment strategy to choose. The complex question of the preference for safer escalation or more vigorous induction treatment is currently an increasingly discussed topic.
The results of post hoc analyzes and retrospective studies show that in young adults, the rate of inflammation, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) activity and relapse rate are higher compared to the elderly population. Figmolid has been approved for the treatment of RR-RS as the first oral drug to act as a sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor antagonist.
Fingolimod has been shown to have a positive effect on disease stabilization, especially in younger age groups with RR-RS. We focus on the long-term effect of fingolimod on the evaluated clinical and MR parameters in young adult patients up to 30 years of age followed for 96 months.