When this very powerful drug is used to treat Multiple Sclerosis, Mitoxantrone is another chemotherapy injection not unlike those used to treat lymphomas and leukemia. But it is because of its powerful immune suppression activity that it is being tried in MS patients. And there has been success. This is most promising for patients with the most aggressive MS types like secondary progressive MS. Mitoxantrone has shown a 66 percent reduction of relapses in one study group of this drug. Multiple Sclerosis Mitoxantrone therapy is often a last resort for these patients, as little else slows progression or reduces relapses.
Another study compared giving patients with primary-progressive multiple sclerosis Mitoxantrone combined with steroids compared to patients given steroids only. After half a year, 90% of the group with Mitoxantrone combined with steroids showed no new MRI lesions compared to 31% of the group on steroids only. That is significant, considering the patients with advanced MS usually show little progress with any treatments.
Side effects, as usual, are the concern with Multiple Sclerosis Mitoxantrone injections
As with most drugs, Multiple Sclerosis Mitoxantrone therapy comes with considerable side effects. They are usually on par or worse than most traditional chemotherapies. Suppression of bone marrow is common, leaving patients more susceptible to infection. In some cases, the MS Mitoxantrone treatment may have caused cancer. Some of the research suggests that 2% of people develop leukemia within 3 – 4 years of taking the MS Mitoxantrone injections. This is even more concerning when coupled with the fact that adult leukemia is very often a fatal condition. It is likely that longer studies will be needed.
Mitoxantrone injections open up a very promising approach to treating the otherwise untreatable. Those that are deteriorating rapidly often have no other choices left. In the cases of these patients suffering with advanced MS, Mitoxantrone is likely worth the risk. But for the average person with MS at the early stages or with RRMS, Multiple Sclerosis Mitoxantrone therapy is probably not an option worth considering.
Mitoxantrone used to be only a cancer treating drug
Mitoxantrone is marketed under the name Novantrone and it is in a class of drugs called antineoplastics. Before it was approved for Multiple Sclerosis, Mitoxantrone was used only to treat specific forms of cancer. Its effectiveness in fighting MS comes from the way it suppresses the activity of T- cells, B-cells, and macrophages. These are all thought to be the main attack mechanisms on the nerve’s myelin sheath.
