Serum Neurofilament Levels and PML Risk in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Treated With Natalizumab

Objectives

The study aimed to assess the potential for serum neurofilament light chain (NFL) levels to predict the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) in natalizumab (NTZ)-treated patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to discriminate PML from MS relapses.

Methods

NFL levels were measured with single molecule array (Simoa) in 4 cohorts: (1) a prospective cohort of patients with MS who developed PML under NTZ therapy (pre-PML) and non-PML NTZ-treated patients (NTZ-ctr); (2) a cohort of patients whose blood was collected during PML; (3) an independent cohort of non-PML NTZ-treated patients with serum NFL determinations at 2 years (replication cohort); and (4) a cohort of patients whose blood was collected during exacerbations.

Results

Serum NFL levels were significantly increased after 2 years of NTZ treatment in pre-PML patients compared with NTZ-ctr. The prognostic performance of serum NFL levels to predict PML development at 2 years was similar in the NTZ-ctr group and replication cohort. Serum NFL levels also distinguished PML from MS relapses and were 8-fold higher during PML compared with relapses.

Conclusions

These results support the use of serum NFL levels in clinical practice to identify patients with relapsing-remitting MS at higher PML risk and to differentiate PML from clinical relapses in NTZ-treated patients.

Classification of Evidence

This study provides Class I evidence that serum NFL levels can identify NTZ-treated patients with MS who will develop PML with a sensitivity of 67% and specificity of 80%.