Sustained remission in multiple sclerosis after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

To determine whether treatment with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) can induce sustained complete remission in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Case series of patients with relapsing-remitting MS (n = 10) treated at a single center between 2004 and 2007 and followed up for 10 years. The patients were treated with a BEAM/ATG conditioning regimen (n = 9) or a cyclophosphamide/ATG conditioning regimen (n = 1) followed by infusion of unmanipulated autologous hematopoietic stem cells. The primary endpoint was sustained complete remission. Sustained complete remission was defined as "no evidence of disease activity-4," sustained for a period of at least 5 years without any ongoing disease-modifying treatment. Furthermore, MS was considered as "resolved" if intrathecal IgG production and cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light levels were normalized as well.

Five out of 10 patients were in sustained complete remission at the end of the study. In three of them, MS was resolved.

Our data demonstrate that sustained complete remission after autologous HSCT for MS is possible.