CASA-MS Research Update
As we recognize MS Awareness Month, we are pleased to provide a significant research update from The Boston Home's CASA-MS research partnership with the University at Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center. TBH and BNAC have completed Phase I of CASA-MS with preliminary
results that surprised—and excited—researchers.
Brain lesions are the biomarker most widely used to determine MS disease progression. But CASA-MS preliminary results strongly suggest the volume of white matter lesions is neither proportional to, nor indicative of, the degree of severe disability in patients. “The absence of material differences in white matter brain lesion burden means this is not a significant driver of severe disability progression, despite the fact that many MS disease-modifying treatments are focused on slowing accumulation of white matter lesions,” says Robert Zivadinov, principal investigator.
“We couldn’t know what the CASA-MS study would show because no one has done this research previously,” Dr. Zivadinov explains. “What we know now is that the differences between the two groups we studied are striking, and striking in ways that may surprise many of us in this field. I am confident these findings open new doors for both people with severe disabilities, as well as the promise of new insights for the millions more who worry where their disease may take them.”
CASA-MS compared two sets of 53 multiple sclerosis patients who had the same gender and disease duration but vast and measurable differences in the extent of their physical and cognitive disabilities. Residents of The Boston Home participated in the study, representing the more severely disabled cohort. Read on to learn about the significant and surprising preliminary study results:
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