Key clinical point : Serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) could serve as an effective biomarker for identifying subclinical disease activity and monitoring drug response in multiple sclerosis (MS).
Major finding: An sNfL Z score of >1.5 indicated an increased risk for future disease activity in all patients with MS (odds ratio [OR] 3.15; P < .0001) and in patients considered stable without evidence of disease activity (OR 2.66; P = .034). The sNfL values could depict a treatment effectiveness hierarchy, with an estimated additive effect on sNfL Z score of −0.14 ( P = .0018) for high efficacy monoclonal antibody therapy vs. oral therapy.
Study details: Findings are from an analysis of 1,313 patients with relapsing or secondary progressive MS from a Swiss MS cohort and 5,390 individuals without evidence of central nervous system disease.
Disclosures: The study was funded by Swiss National Science Foundation, Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Alliance, Biogen, Celgene, Novartis, and Roche. Some authors declared receiving grants, travel compensation, speaker honoraria, and advisory board/lecture and consultancy fees from various sources including the funding sources.
Source: Benkert P et al. Serum neurofilament light chain for individual prognostication of disease activity in people with multiple sclerosis: a retrospective modelling and validation study. Lancet Neurol. 2022;21(3):246-257 (Mar 1). Doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(22)00009-6