Brenda Banwell, MD

“Given that pediatric MS is a highly inflammatory disease, with high relapse rates and a lot of T2 lesion burden, the imperative to get these highly effective therapies to our patients is extremely high and urgent.”

2022 European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) Congress

, from October 26-28, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, 

, gave the welcome lecture on the first day of the meeting, offering an overview of the progress that's been made in the clinical care of patients with pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS). She spoke at length about the momentum the field has gained in this area and the need to continue to better understand the unique facets and similarities between adult and pediatric disease.

Banwell also gave an oral presentation on fingolimod’s superior efficacy on relapses and MRI outcomes over interferon (IFN) beta-1a in POMS from the core phase (CP) of PARADIGMS trial (NCT01892722), which was was a double-blind, active-controlled, randomized trial of patients with PedMS that included 215 individuals treated up to 2 years followed by a 5-year, open-label expansion phase (EP) (n = 171). The dosage of fingolimod was at 0.5 mg/d or 0.25 mg/d according to the patients’ body weight (patients more than 40 kg received 0.5 mg/d dose).

Adjusted annualized relapse rate (ARR) was 0.11 (95% CI, 0.08, 0.16) for the continuous fingolimod group in CP+EP and 0.34 (95% CI, 0.25, 0.47) in the switch group. The most frequently reported adverse events (more than 20%) were nasopharyngitis (43.5%), headache (34.1%), leukopenia (25.3%), and upper respiratory tract infection (21.2%).

, Banwell, chief of neurology, codirector of the neuroscience Center, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, professor of neurology and Pediatrics, the University of Pennsylvania, discussed her presentation from ECTRIMS 2022. Additionally, she gave an overview of the takeaway points on POMS from a clinician's perspective.

REFERENCES
1. Deiva K, Banwell B, Gärtner J. Long-term efficacy and safety of fingolimod in paediatric multiple sclerosis patients: analysis of PARADIG

 study up to 6 years of treatment. Presented at: 2022 ECTRIMS Congress; October 26-28; Amsterdam, Netherlands. Oral Presentation 69

Videos

The chief of neurology and codirector of the neuroscience Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia spoke about her presentation at ECTRIMS 2022 on the treatment of pediatric MS. [WATCH TIME: 5 minutes] 

Progress for Patients With Pediatric MS, Fingolimod's Risk-Benefit Profile: Brenda Banwell, MD

“The single most pressing issue for the treatment of children with multiple sclerosis is to have proper clinical trial evidence for efficacy and clinical trial and extension phase data for safety.”

Over the last few decades, the discussions among multiple sclerosis (MS) experts have shifted radically regarding a single subgroup of patients with MS: the pediatric population. Long believed to have a different disease altogether, pediatric MS has now been realized to be the same disease as observed in adults. However, this lack of understanding has led to a rather sizable gap in research for this population.

Now, a number of trials are ongoing in pediatric MS, though the available literature is still limited. On Wednesday, May 27, 2020, Brenda Banwell, MD, chief, Division of Neurology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, will deliver a presentation on the current perspectives on the state of care and research in pediatric MS for the 

2020 Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis (CMSC) Virtual Annual Meeting

To find out some of her thoughts on the landscape and to glean some of her insight ahead of her presentation, 

 caught up with Banwell. She stressed the need for clinical trial evidence and research for the pediatric population and cited some of the progress that has been made in addressing MS in children.

Banwell B. Current Perspectives of Pediatric Care and Research. Presented at: CMSC 2020; May 26-29, 2020.

The chief of the Division of Neurology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia spoke to the need for clinical trial evidence and research for the pediatric MS population.

Brenda Banwell, MD

Articles

Progress for Patients With Pediatric MS, Fingolimod's Risk-Benefit Profile: Brenda Banwell, MD

Brenda Banwell, MD: Current Perspectives on Pediatric MS Care and Research

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