Study Finds Drug May Relieve MS

A cancer drug may help multiple sclerosis (MS), a study has found. Rituximab also is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Both, like MS, are autoimmune diseases. In MS, the immune system inflames or destroys the covering of nerve cells. The 104 people in the study received two doses of rituximab or a placebo in a vein. Within four weeks, those who got the drug had fewer inflamed areas. Within 48 weeks, 1 in 5 people who got rituximab had a return of symptoms. This occurred for twice as many people who got the placebo. HealthDay News reported on the study. It was published February 14 in the New England Journal of Medicine.