Real-world evidence of riluzole effectiveness in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
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Open Access
- 23 June 2020
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration
- Vol. 21 (7-8), 509-518
- https://doi.org/10.1080/21678421.2020.1771734
Abstract
To compare the effect of riluzole on median survival in population studies of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with that observed in clinical trials. Methods: Two independent PubMed searches were conducted, to identify population studies that reported median survival for ALS patients who were either treated with riluzole or remained riluzole-free. Results: We identified 14 studies that met the inclusion criteria of reporting median survival and an additional study that reported mean survival of both riluzole and riluzole-free patients. Analysis of the 15 studies found that a majority reported increased survival of riluzole vs. riluzole-free patients. In 8 studies, the median survival for patients treated with riluzole was 6–19 months longer compared with patients not treated with riluzole (p < 0.05). Three additional studies reported a clinically meaningful treatment effect (range 3–5.9 months) but did not meet statistical significance. The remaining 4 studies did not show a meaningful treatment effect between riluzole and riluzole-free groups (Conclusions: A majority of population studies that compared riluzole vs. riluzole-free ALS patients found significant differences in median survival between the two groups, ranging from 6 to 19 months. This is substantially longer than the 2- to 3-month survival benefit observed in the pivotal clinical trials of riluzole.Keywords
Funding Information
- ITF Pharma, Inc
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