Any experience in using Mitoxantrone (Novantrone)?

Posted By john on December 21, 1998 at 22:35:43:







Hi, there.
Your MD MM was great in replying to question I posed Oct. 18 about Imuran for treatment of primary progressive MS. Thanks, but specialists here have now decided against that course of action because of the considerable risk of cancer and the fact that my dear wife has already struggled once with that disease.
Now, they are proposing (pending preliminary heart tests) a trial with IV Mitoxantrone mixed with Solumedrol (methylprednisolone?). It would be done once a month for a course of six months and apparently this treatment has shown promise in European trials.
I've found some of the abstracts on MedLine etc. but seems to be mostly used in relapsing-remitting and secondary progressive MS. Have you used it in Cleveland? For primary progressive? Doesn't much matter, I guess, since there seem to be no alternatives for my wife. She's gone from 4.5 to 6.5 on disability scale in one year and now has trouble swallowing-choking and speaking clearly.
Have you heard of any other options for rapidly-moving primary progressive MS?
Thanks for any help you can offer.
John.