Chemotherapy and stem cell treatment successful in MS

[Justin30]

It wish it had worked for your friend @Sushi i wonder if it can be done again?

 

[Kati]

Stem cell 'transplant' refers to harvesting stem cells from cell separator, this is an intraveinous procedure. The stem cells are then preserved inthe freezer until time of reinfusion. Then the patient is hospitalized, a central line is surgically implanted and submits to 5-7 days of high dose chemo, which will kill all of the immune cells, a lot of the blood cells (red blood cell, platelets, which will require many transfusions) and the gut cells (from mouth to other end) everything will be raw, and bad diarrhea. With no functioning immune system, the patient is vulnerable to infections, viral, fungal and bacteria. The patient's stem cells are reinfused once all the immune cells are killed, and it usually takes 3-4 weeks until they return to the bone marrow and start functinning normally in producing immune and blood cells.

It is not for the faint at heart, and there are very serious risks to this procedure, on top of the side effects of the chemo given, including high dose cyclo which is toxic to the bladder.

There are also risks of secondary malignancy (getting cancer) from the chemo agents.

 

[Sushi]

It wish it had worked for your friend @Sushi i wonder if it can be done again?

I really doubt it for the reasons that @Kati mentioned--aside from the horrific cost.

 

[AndyPR]

Stem Cell Transplantation May Decrease MS-Related Fatigue

Along with decreasing inflammatory activity in patients with severe multiple sclerosis (MS), immunoablation and autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (aHSCT) may reduce MS-related fatigue, new research suggests.

Further analysis from the 24-person Canadian aHSCT study showed improvements at each postprocedure checkpoint, including a nearly 30% reduction in fatigue scores and no progression in overall disability at 3 years.
....
For the current analysis, they wanted to assess treatment effect on heavy fatigue, a common occurrence in MS. In fact, fatigue is reported by up to 92% of patients with MS, "with over half of them saying it's one of their worst symptoms, in addition to motor disability," said Dr Bose.

"Fatigue is something that isn't as well measured, so we wanted to see if this type of transplant, which has such astounding impact on patient inflammation and lesions on MRI, has any role in patient fatigue as well," he added.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/876406?src=soc_fb_170302_mscpedt_news_neuro_actrims

 

[AndyPR]

For the current analysis, they wanted to assess treatment effect on heavy fatigue, a common occurrence in MS. In fact, fatigue is reported by up to 92% of patients with MS, "with over half of them saying it's one of their worst symptoms, in addition to motor disability," said Dr Bose.

"Fatigue is something that isn't as well measured, so we wanted to see if this type of transplant, which has such astounding impact on patient inflammation and lesions on MRI, has any role in patient fatigue as well," he added.

.....

When asked for comment, ACTRIMS President-Elect Jeffrey A. Cohen, MD, Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute–Mellen Center, Ohio, told Medscape Medical News that "there's been an increasing interest" in aHSCT as a treatment for aggressive MS that hasn't responded to other therapies.

"This group previously reported very potent efficacy. There were some significant safety concerns but mostly they were front-loaded and decreased over time," he said.

"People are not going to pursue transplant to treat fatigue in MS, but this is a useful observation and underscores the potential efficacy," added Dr Cohen. "And it might give us some insights into the mechanisms that cause fatigue in MS."

He noted that one theory has been that fatigue is caused by ongoing, overactive inflammation. "So suppression of that could lead to less fatigue."

Or it could be caused by the increased work of carrying out activities of daily living. "So a functional benefit of the transplant, improving disability, may be what decreases fatigue," he speculated.