A new study suggests that patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis can experience long-term increases in disability in the absence of disease relapses. Monitoring this ‘silent progression’ will require a paradigm shift in the way disease progression is evaluated.
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M.F. is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neurology; has received compensation for consulting services and/or speaking activities from Biogen, Merck Serono, Novartis and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries; and receives research support from ARiSLA (Fondazione Italiana di Ricerca per la SLA), Biogen, Fondazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla, the Italian Ministry of Health, Merck Serono, Novartis, Roche and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. M.A.R. received speaker honoraria from Biogen, Genzyme, Merck Serono, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries; and receives research support from Fondazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla and the Italian Ministry of Health.
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Filippi, M., Rocca, M.A. Classifying silent progression in relapsing–remitting MS. Nat Rev Neurol 15, 315–316 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-019-0199-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-019-0199-8