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

Sasha

Fine, thank you
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17,863
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UK
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

BBC said:
One hundred thousand people in the UK have multiple sclerosis, an incurable condition that can result in permanent disability. Panorama has exclusive access to patients pioneering a crossover cancer treatment that has enabled some MS sufferers with paralysis to regain their movement.

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?
 
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K22

Messages
92
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...
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,824
Couple of links on rituximab / ocrelizumab treatment for multiple sclerosis:

This article says:
Clinical reports on rituximab in patients with both relapsing-remitting and progressive forms of MS indicate that the drug is both highly effective and well-tolerated.

This review paper says:
Despite the frequent mild/moderate adverse events related to the drug, rituximab appears overall safe for up to 2 years of therapy and has a substantial impact on the inflammatory disease activity (clinical and/or radiological) of relapsing-remitting MS.

The effect of rituximab on disease progression in primary progressive MS appears to be marginal.


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.
 
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eafw

Senior Member
Messages
936
Location
UK
I found this via Google. I don't know if The removal of harmful immune cells is done via a rituximab like drug...

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
 

Forbin

Senior Member
Messages
966
I just found this article in the Telegraph (1/18/15).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/hea...-patients-condition-permanently-reversed.html
During the treatment, the patient's stem cells are harvested and stored. Then doctors use aggressive drugs which are usually given to cancer patients to completely destroy the immune system.
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. :confused:]
 
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JohnCB

Immoderate
Messages
351
Location
England
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.
 

Effi

Senior Member
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1,496
Location
Europe
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?
 
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2,125
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.
 

Effi

Senior Member
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1,496
Location
Europe
@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