Achievement of No Evidence of Disease Activity-3 with Oral Disease-Modifying Treatment in Patients with...

There is scant data regarding the use of oral disease-modifying treatments (oDMT) in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (PwRRMS) from Saudi Arabia.

This study aimed to identify the response rate to oDMT in PwRRMS compared to interferon (IFN) in terms of achieving no evidence of disease activity-3 (NEDA-3).

This retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia and included all adult PwRRMS over a 2-year period who were on oDMTs or IFN for <1 year. The achievement of overall NEDA-3 and its components (namely, relapse, disability progression, and focal MRI activity) were assessed for each treatment.

A total of 231 patients were included for the analysis of NEDA-3 status, of which 78 (33.8%) were on oDMTs (namely, dimethyl fumarate, teriflunomide, and fingolimod). NEDA-3 status was achieved in 51.3% (OR: 1.86, 95% CI: 1.28-2.71) of patients on oDMTs and in 32% of patients on IFN (OR: 0.72, 95% CI: 0.58-0.89) (P < 0.001). Compared to the IFN group, the oDMT group had significantly lower rates of clinical relapse (P < 0.001), disability progression (P = 0.004), and new focal MRI activity (P = 0.01). Patients on dimethyl-fumarate had higher odds of achieving NEDA-3 (OR: 2.18, 95% CI = 1.09-4.34; P =0.02) compared with those on fingolimod (OR 2.15, 95% CI = 0.70-6.58; P =0.16) and teriflunomide (OR: 1.53, 95% CI = 0.81-2.91; P =0.18).

More than half of the patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis on oral DMTs achieved NEDA-3 status in this study. Significant differences were observed in NEDA-3 status parameters and achievement between patients on oral DMTs and interferon, with the likeliness being highest among patients treated with dimethyl-fumarate.