Aggressive treatment of early acute focal inflammatory activity to extend the window for BTK inhibition in multiple sclerosis

The development of novel therapy classes such as Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors, which target disability progression independent of relapses and largely independent of new lesion formation, requires a reappraisal of strategies in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). We argue that this novel class of treatment further emphasizes the need for early and aggressive treatment with classical disease-modifying compounds for the prevention of both relapses and new MRI lesion formation and their associated disability accrual. This will extend the window to recognize early progressive disability accumulation independent of acute focal inflammatory activity, and for people with MS to benefit from novel therapies such as BTK inhibition, which target damaging pathophysiological processes independent of peripherally driven focal inflammation.