New immunotherapy improves MS symptoms

A world-first clinical trial of a new cellular immunotherapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) has improved symptoms and quality of life for the majority of patients. The treatment targets the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and is based on a theory formulated by University of Queensland and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) researcher Professor Michael Pender. In 2003, Professor Pender proposed that MS resulted from an accumulation of EBV-infected cells in the brain, and that a therapy targeting EBV could stop the progression of the disease. The cellular immunotherapy was developed by Professor Rajiv Khanna and his team at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, and the phase I clinical trial was conducted in collaboration with Professor Pender and colleagues. Professor Pender said 10 patients - five with secondary progressive MS and five with primary progressive MS - received four doses of the cellular immunotherapy treatment at the RBWH. "Seven of these patients showed improvements," he said. "Without this treatment, we would have expected their symptoms to continue to get worse.