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Autologous Blood Stem Cell Therapy<br />

for Progressive Multiple Sclerosis<br />

Athanasios Fassas, Achilles Anagnostopoulos,<br />

Aristide Kazis, Konstantin Kapinas, loanna Sakellari,<br />

Vassilis Kimiskidis, Evangelia Yannaki<br />

Department of Hematology (A.F., A.A., I.S., E.Y.) <strong>and</strong> Department of Neurology<br />

III (A.K., K.K., V.K.), George Papanicolaou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece<br />

ABSTRACT<br />

There is strong evidence supporting an immunopathogenic basis for multiple<br />

sclerosis (MS), an incurable, severely disabling disease of the central nervous<br />

system (CNS). It usually responds to treatment initially, but for the rapidly<br />

evolving <strong>and</strong> the chronic progressive (pMS) forms, there is no effective therapy.<br />

Based on the encouraging results of experimental <strong>transplantation</strong> in animal<br />

autoimmune disease models, including allergic encephalomyelitis, we have<br />

conducted two consecutive phase I/II trials to investigate the effect of <strong>blood</strong> stem<br />

cell <strong>transplantation</strong> (SCT) in a total of 24 patients with advanced pMS (median<br />

EDSS score 6; range 4.5-8) <strong>and</strong> evidence of active disease, i.e. gain of 1 EDSS<br />

point in the year preceding SCT. In both trials, <strong>blood</strong> SCs were mobilized with<br />

cyclophosphamide (CY) at 4 g/m 2<br />

<strong>and</strong> granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-<br />

CSF) without serious toxicity or flare of the disease. The BEAM regimen (BCNU,<br />

etoposide, cytosine arabinoside, melphalan) was employed for conditioning at<br />

doses used in lymphomas. Antithymocyte globulin (ATG) at one-third the dose<br />

used to treat aplastic anemia was given after stem cell infusion, along with soluble<br />

methylprednisolone. In the second trial, the graft was CD34 +<br />

-selected, which<br />

yielded a 3- <strong>and</strong> 1.8-log reduction of T <strong>and</strong> B cells, respectively. Toxicity included<br />

infections, mild veno-occlusive disease (VOD) (one case), thrombotic microangiopathy<br />

(TTP) (one case) necessitating plasma exchange, <strong>and</strong> one death from<br />

aspergillosis (transplant-related mortality [TRM], 4%). Some neurotoxicity<br />

developed in 10 patients early post-SC infusion, but it was mild <strong>and</strong> transient.<br />

Median follow-up time is 21 months (range 6-33). Twenty patients were stabilized<br />

(10) or improved (10) on the EDSS score. Relapses (disease exacerbations)<br />

occurred in five patients. The cumulative hazard of progression at 3 years is 14%.<br />

These results indicate that SCT is feasible in MS <strong>and</strong> may also have a beneficial<br />

effect. Well-designed phase II trials are needed to confirm a positive result of SCT<br />

in MS, in which efficacy of a treatment is notoriously difficult to assess.<br />

452

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