Chris, I'm thrilled that Revimmune had such terrific results for you. It's fantastic that an effective treatment has finally been found for some who suffer from this disease.

However, Revimmune will not be the answer for all patients. I've spoken with the doctors at Johns Hopkins, and their feeling is that patients not showing signs of active inflammation most likely will not benefit from the treatment. That means the treatment will not be effective for almost anybody suffering from from PPMS (as I am), and most who suffer from SPMS.

As far as there being not much difference between the different disease subtypes, that may hold true for RRMS and SPMS, which together form something of a continuum, but PPMS is clearly a different entity. I have a email from Dr. Peter Calabresi, the head of the Johns Hopkins MS Center, in which he states that "primary progressive MS is a terrible terrible problem".

The pathology of PPMS differs significantly than that of the relapsing forms of the disease. Lesion load and location are significantly different (patients generally exhibit much fewer lesions, and lesions of the spine are far more prevalent) and males and females are stricken in equal numbers by PPMS (while for RRMS and SPMS the ratio is at least 3:1 females to males). Furthermore, PPMS patients are much more likely to have negative lumbar puncture results, and their disease more often takes an aggressive course.

Here's a study that looked at the six-year results of Hematopoetic Stem Cell Transplantation on progressive MS patients. The results are less than stellar. Keep in mind, that Revimmune and HSCT both achieve the same end result, a rebooting of the immune system, the difference being that Revimmune does not require the transplantation of autologous stem cells.

The majority of the patients studied in this abstract were primary progressive and secondary progressive. The results really were not that great, as 16 of the 26 patients worsened, and only 4 saw improvement, as measured by EDSS score.

The conclusions are that "This potent anti-inflammatory treatment might be most effective in the earlier, more inflammatory relapsing stage of MS. The continued worsening of some patients, in the absence of MRI or clinical exacerbations, suggests that the treatment may be more successful in earlier stages of the disease."

http://www.abstracts2view.com/aan200...AAN08L_P02.162

One would expect to see much the same results for progressive patients undergoing the Revimmune process. I fervently wish that Revimmune were effective on primary progressive patients, I'd be first in line for the treatment. I spoke with the Revimmune people back in February, and after reviewing my records they told me I was not an acceptable candidate for the treatment. Dr. Calabresi later reiterated that opinion.

Hopefully, some SPMS patients will find benefit. The last I heard was that they were pushing back the SPMS trial until winter. I guess only time will tell...