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   DIR Return to: LEMTRADA (Campath, alemtuzumab)
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       #Post#: 791--------------------------------------------------
       Allegheny General Hospital (PA) offering Lemtrada as MS treatmen
       t
       By: agate Date: May 18, 2015, 7:34 pm
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       From Multiple Sclerosis News Today, May 18, 2015:
       [quote]A Hospital Begins Offering LEMTRADA as Treatment for
       Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis
       Alisa Woods, PhD
       
       The Allegheny General Hospital in Pennsylvania is now offering a
       new treatment option for people with relapsing remitting
       multiple sclerosis (RRMS) — the most common form of multiple
       sclerosis.  The treatment may help people with RRMS who have not
       responded to other medications.
       ...
       LEMTRADA (alemtuzumab) is a therapy approved by the FDA to help
       patients with relapsing forms of MS. The medication is what is
       known as a monoclonal antibody, a laboratory-engineered immune
       molecule that can specifically bind to and protect against
       damaging white blood cells that attack myelin. LEMTRADA is
       thought to reduce the amount of harmful white blood cells and
       allow only benign white blood cells to regenerate. The Food and
       Drug Administration (FDA) approved LEMTRADA for clinical use in
       the fall of 2014. Doctors supply the drug through the blood
       stream and clinical studies have shown that it can stop MS
       progression and block MS flare-ups.
       LEMTRADA is given twice a year with the first treatment
       involving intravenous infusion for five consecutive days. A year
       after the first treatment, doctors give the second treatment
       over a period of three days.
       “It’s wonderful to have a new option for patients with
       aggressive MS who have tried various medications and still
       haven’t achieved remission,” remarked Thomas Scott, MD, director
       of the Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Center at Allegheny General
       Hospital.
       However, one downside of the medication is that reducing the
       number of white blood cells causes a loss of immunity, so people
       taking LEMTRADA might develop infections or other immune
       problems. For this reason, LEMTRADA is usually taken as a last
       resort by people who have tried other drugs for MS.
       LEMTRADA is not a treatment that is easy to administer or to
       obtain, which is why the new program at Allegheny is so
       important. In addition to treating patients, the program also
       focuses on educating healthcare providers about how to
       administer the drug. A comprehensive team of physicians, nurses,
       physical therapists and patient educators provide treatment and
       conduct research at the center.
       The Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Center at Allegheny General
       Hospital was started in 1992 and about 2,000 patients with MS
       each year receive treatment at the facility. It is one of the
       largest treatment centers of its kind in the United States.
       [/quote]
       The entire article can be seen here
  HTML http://multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com/2015/05/14/pa-hospital-begins-offering-lemtrada-treatment-relapsing-multiple-sclerosis/.
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