Abstract
There is limited long-term data on the effect of interferon-β<sub>1b</sub> (IFN-β<sub>1b</sub>) on disability progression in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). There is also no reliable way of predicting individual responses to IFN-β<sub>1b</sub> treatment. This prospective study investigated early clinical prognostic markers of disease activity and progression in 115 patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) treated with IFN-β<sub>1b</sub> for almost 5 years. The study also compared progression of disability in IFN-β<sub>1b</sub>-treated patients with a historic untreated cohort of MS patients (n = 44). The number of relapses in the first 2 years of MS and in the 2 years before treatment predicted an early relapse after IFN-β<sub>1b</sub> treatment. The IFN-β<sub>1b</sub>-treated group experienced a slower progression of disability than the untreated cohort, suggesting that IFN-β<sub>1b</sub> treatment delays progression of disability in RRMS.
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