ECTRIMS 2022 | Unmet needs in the diagnostics and treatment of NMOSD

Kazuo Fujihara, MD, PhD, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan, shares his views on some of the unmet needs within the treatment and diagnosis of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). Firstly, Prof. Fujihara explains the importance of personalized medicine in the future of NMOSD treatment. A number of disease-modifying treatments are now becoming available, however it is unclear which drugs may be better suited to which patients. Secondly, reliable biomarkers are needed for the prediction of relapses and/or disease severity. Promising results from the N-MOmentum study (NCT02200770) that evaluated the safety and efficacy of inebilizumab in 231 patients with NMOSD, demonstrated that patients with a baseline level of serum glial fibrillary acidic protein (sGFAP) of higher than 170 pg/ml were more likely to experience relapse during the course of the study. sGFAP may therefore provide a potential biomarker to predict the risk of relapse, which will be especially useful in patients experiencing relatively mild symptoms. Lastly, Prof. Fujihara expresses the need for quality of life measures to be included in diagnostic and treatment outcome measures. This interview took place at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) Congress 2022 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

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