FDA OKs cancer therapy to treat multiple sclerosis

Herald staff

SEATTLE — Immunex Corp. gained approval for doctors to use a cancer drug as the first treatment for people with crippling late-stage multiple sclerosis.

The Food and Drug Administration approved mitoxantrone, to be sold under the name Novantrone, for patients with the secondary progressive form of the disease. In these patients, the drug reduced the frequency of flare-ups and slowed the progression of disability. The FDA warned, however, that some patients using the drug can develop serious heart problems, a risk that increases with the cumulative doses.