Anti-cancer drug to prevent MS?RSS Feed

Scientists have blocked the brain injury in mice with a condition similar to multiple sclerosis using an anti-cancer drug, indicating the condition could be prevented.

Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis blocked the destructive immune cells from entering the brains of mice by using an anti-cancer drug in development by ChemoCentryx.

Multiple sclerosis is thought to be caused by these immune cells, which damage the myelin in the brain.

Researcher Robyn Klein said: "The results were so dramatic that we ended up producing early evidence that this compound might be helpful as a drug for MS.

"The harmful immune cells were unable to gain access to the brain tissue, and the mice that received the highest dosage were protected from disease."

Multiple sclerosis can occur at any age, but symptoms are usually first seen between the ages of 20 and 40, with women more than twice as likely as men to develop the condition.

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Posted by Matthew Heap
 

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