Comparison of treatments

euphonia · 09-28-2006, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wannabe

From the Ectrims site:

http://www.akm.ch/ectrims2006/

An open label trial comparing the effects of IFNB-1a (Rebif®), (Avonex®), IFNB-1b (Betaferon®) and glatiramer acetate (Copaxone®) on the relapse rate, lesion load on MRI and disease progression in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
N.S. Oztekin, M.F. Oztekin, O. Yilmaz, R. Polat (Ankara, TR)

There was a reduction in MRI disease activity up to 45% reduction in the number of active lesions per petient per MRI scan after 6 years of treatment, while the reduction was 20% in the control group.

There was no statistically significant difference in terms of annual execerbation rate(p=0.5), exacerbation frequency (p=0.05) and MRI disease activity in (p>0.05) between the groups receiving Rebif, Avonex , Betaferon and Copaxone after 6 years of treatment.

Conclusion: The results of this 6 year open labeled study comparing the immunomodulating effects of these four therapies in R-R MS patients has shown no statistically significant difference in terms of annual exacerbation rate, execerbation frequency and MRI disease activity.

My completely non-statistical but minutiae obsessed brain reads the above quote as "up to 45% reduction" in active lesions of patients on CRABs, meaning that the best result in the treated patients was 45%, with no average listed. And that the average lesion reduction in patients receiving nothing at all was still 20%.

I'd always hoped that at least some people were doing better than that on the meds.

Anyone want to comment or clarify? With the same percentages for all the meds, it always seems to me that the CRABs work (modestly) on the same subset of patients and the rest of us maybe have a different form of the disease. I'd rather they'd spend more time on figuring out what we've got.

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