UK BBC1 Mon 18 Jan: Panorama - Can You Stop My Multiple Sclerosis? [Crossover cancer treatment]

Posting because of the possible relevance to ME/rituximab but I don't know what treatment they're actually talking about:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06ss17g

8:30 pm this evening. [Edit: it has been rescheduled to next week - see below.]

Don't know if you know anything about this, @Jonathan Edwards?

 

No. It may well be ocrelizumab, which is just an updated version of rituximab.

 

Thanks - some interesting parallels, then, maybe.

I wish Panorama would cover ME/rtx.

 

This claims Rituximab is safer.
https://neuroimmunology.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/rituximab-vs-ocrelizumab-in-multiple-sclerosis/
I don't know who writes it but they also have a twitter account https://twitter.com/NeuroImmunology

 

I have a feeling they may have re-arranged it to next week. (18/1/15)

 

@Sasha they have: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t14n/broadcasts/upcoming

 

Thanks - I've edited the thread title and my first post.

That's the second time it's been rescheduled!

 

Home » Near me » Events
Panorama Documentary on BBC One

• Start day / time:25 Jan 2016 8:30PM - 9:00PM

A Panorama documentary about MS and stem cell treatment will be broadcast on BBC One on Monday 14 December at 8.30pm.

The documentary was filmed at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield and focuses on the experience of patients who underwent Autologous Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (AHSCT) some time ago and had dramatic results, as well as two patients who have just started the treatment. It also features interviews with the researchers involved.

The MS Society wasn’t involved in the documentary itself but we are in touch with the researchers and the Panorama team.

What is AHSCT?

AHSCT is being investigated as a treatment for MS. The aim is to remove the harmful immune cells that attack the brain and spinal cord, and then re-boot the immune system using a person’s own (autologous) stem cells.

The Research Team at the National Centre will be happy to help with any queries.

https://www.mssociety.org.uk/ms-events/panorama-documentary-bbc-one


I found this via Google. I don't know if The removal of harmful immune cells is done via a rituximab like drug...

 

Couple of links on rituximab / ocrelizumab treatment for multiple sclerosis:

This article says:

This review paper says:

So the first link says rituximab is highly effective for both relapsing-remitting and progressive MS, whereas the second link says rituximab is only effective for relapsing-remitting MS.

 

There is a similar procedure that has been used in RA and Lupus using cyclophosphamide to knock out the immune system after the stem cells have been harvested. I'd guess this is what they are trying for MS now

https://www.researchgate.net/public...rheumatoid_arthritis_-_report_of_six_patients

https://www.researchgate.net/public..._severe_rheumatic_autoimmune_disease_A_review

 

I just found this article in the Telegraph (1/18/15).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/hea...-patients-condition-permanently-reversed.html

They don't say it in so many words, but it sound like its autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This is where they "kill" the entire immune system and then reintroduce previously harvested stem cells to "reboot" it. It's been used in certain types of blood and bone cancers, but it has been viewed (in the past, at least) as a last resort due to the risks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematopoietic_stem_cell_transplantation

It's been tried before in MS with some success.
https://www.healthline.com/health-n...first-ms-treatment-reverses-disability-012215

[Ooops. I guess I just pretty much repeated @K22 's post. ]

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35065905
Cancer treatment for MS patients gives 'remarkable' results

 

If Rituximab works in ME but ppl relapse then it's got to be worth someone exploring this as a potential treatment I'd have thought.

 

Bump! On in a few hours.

 

There is some information on this on the MS Society website. I have not been a member of this forum long enough to post a link yet, but if you go their site and search within it for AHSCT you will see what I mean. (Autologous Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation). It's not a pleasant treatment. Among other things you are kept in an isolation room for a month because they destroy your immune system. I think this is more severe than what was done in the ME/Rituximab trials.

 

@JohnCB here's the link: https://www.mssociety.org.uk/ms-research/emerging-areas/stem-cells/AHSCT

welcome to PR!

 

Thanks. That's the one I meant. My search gave four results but the one you have posted is the one I would have linked.

 

I saw the programme. It was interesting. The treatment, meant for patients with relapse-remitting MS, is very agressive (similar to treatment of blood cancer): stem cell harvesting, chemo therapy (with hair loss and everything) to 'delete' the immune system, then reintroduction of rebooted stem cells, then various days in isolation due to being immune compromised. It worked very well for the 5(ish) people they followed. When it worked, the improvement was visible within DAYS. A lot depends on how much the MS had progressed before they started treatment, i.e. some of the damage that is done is hard to undo. (One guy was paralized before, and a year after stem cell treatment and with physio exercises can walk again - with difficulty, but still a great improvement.)

They compared brain MRIs before and after treatment. Before, you could see where the inflammation was damaging the brain. After, there was nothing left but a few scars where the inflammation used to be. There was no mentioning of people where it didn't work, or what the expected succes ratio was. The doctors said that it is going to take years or decades before we'll really know if this is a viable option and/or a cure. This could possibly give hope to many MS patients I think.

Does anyone know if something along similar lines could be viable for PWME?

 

I was wondering the same thing, but MS is classed as an auto-immune disease. Also looked into MS a bit (as I don't know a lot about it) and a lot of the symptoms are very similar to M.E. so it makes no sense why the medical profession seem so intent on either ignoring the impact that having M.E has on day to day life, or treating it as a non-physical illness.

 

@slysaint I've looked into MS again recently too, because there are so many similarities. From my last trip down the rabbit hole I've learned that MS is known to be extremely difficult to diagnose, even with all the MRIs and other techniques and there is a big overlap of misdiagnosis both ways (false positive/false negative). For some patients it takes years to get an official diagnosis. The one big difference is that there are ways to measure the damage MS is doing before treatment, to compare it after treatment. I hope once we have something similar for ME we'll get better treatment, and the respect we deserve. That is what struck me in this tv programme: the doctors who examined the patients were so respectful and compassionate. So far removed from most of our experiences...

Here's a good overview from the Hummingbirds' Foundation about ME vs MS: http://www.hfme.org/mevsms.htm