Trial reportNeurology2012
Survival in MS: a randomized cohort study 21 years after the start of the pivotal IFNβ-1b trial.
Trial report in Neurology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 93 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
93 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 242 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessment of Long-term Follow-up of Randomized Trial Participants by Linkage to Routinely Collected Data: A Scoping Review and Analysis.JAMA network open · 2018Pooled it
- Onset of clinical and MRI efficacy occurs early after fingolimod treatment initiation in relapsing multiple sclerosis.Journal of neurology · 2016Trial
- Ventricular-vascular coupling at rest and immediately following maximal exercise in adults with and without multiple sclerosis.Physiological reports · 2026Article
- Immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory potential of S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) in multiple sclerosis: a review of mechanisms and therapeutic perspectives.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Two roads diverged in multiple sclerosis: When is switching therapy effective?Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2025Article
- A Cross-Sectional Study of Delayed Diagnosis Associated with Gender and Racial Identity in Multiple Sclerosis.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2025Article
- Multiple sclerosis patients' journey delay in diagnosis and treatment: a multicenter study.BMC neurology · 2025Observational
- Factors associated with delay to diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in Zambia.Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) · 2025Article
- The epidemiology, pathology and pathogenesis of MS: Therapeutic implications.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2025Review
- Article
- Improving criteria for dissemination in space in multiple sclerosis by including additional regions.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2024Article
- Narrative Review on the Use of Cladribine Tablets as Exit Therapy for Stable Elderly Patients with Multiple Sclerosis.Neurology and therapy · 2024Review
- Personalized Use of Disease-Modifying Therapies in Multiple Sclerosis.Pharmaceutics · 2024Review
- Disease-modifying therapy initiation patterns in multiple sclerosis in three large MS populations.Therapeutic advances in neurological disorders · 2024Article
- Improving the efficiency of clinical trials in multiple sclerosis.Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) · 2023Review
- Variability of the response to immunotherapy among subgroups of patients with multiple sclerosis.European journal of neurology · 2023Article
- Polypharmacy in patients with multiple sclerosis and the impact on levels of care and therapy units.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
- Health economic outcomes of switching to alemtuzumab from other disease-modifying therapies in people with multiple sclerosis in the USA.Journal of comparative effectiveness research · 2023Observational
- Impact of Adherence with Disease-Modifying Therapies on All-Cause Mortality Rates Among Veterans with Multiple Sclerosis.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2022Article
- Disease-Modifying Drugs for Multiple Sclerosis and Association With Survival.Neurology(R) neuroimmunology & neuroinflammation · 2022Article
33 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo examine the effects of interferon beta (IFNβ)-1b on all-cause mortality over 21 years in the cohort of 372 patients who participated in the pivotal randomized clinical trial (RCT), retaining (in the analysis) the original randomized treatment-assignments.
methodsFor this randomized long-term cohort study, the primary outcome, defined before data collection, was the comparison of all-cause mortality between the IFNβ-1b 250 μg and placebo groups from the time of randomization through the entire 21-year follow-up interval (intention-to-treat, log-rank test for Kaplan-Meier survival curves). All other survival outcomes were secondary.
resultsAfter a median of 21.1 years from RCT enrollment, 98.4%(366 of 372) of patients were identified, and, of these, 81 deaths were recorded (22.1% [81 of 366]). Patients originally randomly assigned to IFNβ-1b 250 μg showed a significant reduction in all-cause mortality over the 21-year period compared with placebo (p = 0.0173), with a hazard ratio of 0.532 (95% confidence interval 0.314-0.902). The hazard rate of death at long-term follow-up by Kaplan-Meier estimates was reduced by 46.8% among IFNβ-1b 250 μg-treated patients (46.0% among IFNβ-1b 50 μg-treated patients) compared with placebo. Baseline variables did not influence the observed treatment effect.
conclusionsThere was a significant survival advantage in this cohort of patients receiving early IFNβ-1b treatment at either dose compared with placebo. Near-complete ascertainment, together with confirmatory findings from both active treatment groups, strengthens the evidence for an IFNβ-1b benefit on all-cause mortality. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class III evidence that early treatment with IFNβ-1b is associated with prolonged survival in initially treatment-naive patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.