Author Of 1 Presentation
P0759 - Treatment patterns in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (ID 1400)
Abstract
Background
Many patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) are managed using off-label immunosuppressants for relapse prevention, and treatment guidelines are based on small, often uncontrolled, studies with low levels of evidence.
Objectives
To assess real-world treatment patterns in patients with NMOSD.
Methods
Based on the global NMOBase cohort, patients diagnosed with NMOSD between 2006ā2019 per the international 2015 consensus criteria and with ā„2 Expanded Disability Status Scale scores recorded at different visits were included in the study population. The aquaporin-4 autoantibody (AQP4-IgG) serostatus was determined mainly by cell-based assay; treatment sequence for maintenance therapies was assessed in seropositive (AQP4-IgG+) patients only. The date of biomarker testing was used as a proxy for diagnosis date and served as the baseline for the observational period.
Results
The study population included 334 NMOSD patients tested for AQP4-IgG serostatus. Among them, 301 (90.1%) were AQP4-IgG+. Mean age was 45.3 years; 84.1% were women and 51.8% (n=156) came from Europe. Two thirds had ā„5 visits recorded in NMObase, and the mean observational period was 4.8 years. Five treatment lines (1Lā5L) were observed, with only 1.3% of the AQP4-IgG+ cohort (n=4) progressing to the last line. At baseline, the most common therapy was azathioprine (23.6%) followed by rituximab (5.3%), and 65.4% (n=197) were not prescribed any disease-modifying therapy (DMT). The median time between the test date and initiation of DMT was 3.2 months, although 25% of patients waited >10 months. Most AQP4-IgG+ patients (66.4%; n=200) progressed beyond 1L. The most frequent treatments at 2L were rituximab (43.5%) and azathioprine (41.0%). The proportion receiving rituximab, the predominant therapy beyond 2L, remained stable at 3L (48.1%; n=25) and 4L (46.7%; n=7). Across all treatment lines, there were anecdotal reports of use of DMT indicated for multiple sclerosis (MS) (e.g., betaferon), possibly reflecting old clinical practice. A large proportion (83.4%) received corticosteroids, either as acute relapse- or maintenance- therapy, along their treatment pathway.
Conclusions
Based on data collected before recent drug approvals, the main treatment options included off-label drugs and a few MS DMTs. A quarter of patients did not initiate NMOSD DMTs for >10 months from diagnosis. Newly approved therapies might partly address this unmet need, at least for AQP4-IgG+ patients.