Clinical factors and response to therapy with disease-modifying drugs for multiple sclerosis: the experience of the Tomsk region

Abstract

To investigate a disease-modifying drugs (DMD) response in multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Tomsk region population and detect clinical factors associated with the treatment response. A 5-year prospective clinical study included 363 MS patients of the Tomsk region taking DMDs of the «first-line» and «second-line treatments». The response to DMDs therapy and the impact of MS clinical characteristics on response to treatment were assessed. Clinical factors associated with resistance to DMD are male gender, partial reduce of the MS onset symptoms, short period of the first remission, severe neurological impairment, high relapse rate and disease progression rate. Clinical features of MS are crucial factors associated with DMD response and should be used to prescribe DMD. This factor assessment can improve efficacy of the personalized MS treatment.