Caravaca Puchades, A., McDonough, H.E., Al-Chalabi, A. et al. (26 more authors) (2025) Mapping the natural history of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: time-to-event analysis of clinical milestones in the pan-European, population-based PRECISION-ALS cohort. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration, 26 (sup1). pp. 8-19. ISSN 2167-8421
Abstract
Objective
Map time to key clinical milestones in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), highlighting underlying genotypic and phenotypic prognostic factors.
Background
Understanding the ALS disease trajectory and factors influencing the heterogeneous disease course is important to guide clinical care and stratify individuals to effectively assess therapeutics in clinical trials.
Methods
Population-based datasets from nine European ALS care centers were collated. Time-to-event analysis was conducted for key clinical milestones: symptom onset, diagnosis, gastrostomy insertion, noninvasive ventilation (NIV) initiation, and survival. Independent prognostic factors were determined.
Results
21,820 people with ALS from nine ALS centers were included. Median age of symptom onset was 63.9 years. Median diagnostic delay was 1.0 years, with median survival of 33.7 months from onset. Prognostic factors for survival included age at onset, baseline vital capacity, progression rate, diagnostic delay, site of onset, and C9orf72-positive status. SOD1 variants D91A and G94C had protective prognostic effects in the whole cohort. Median time from diagnosis to gastrostomy insertion in bulbar-onset disease was 2.34 years. Median time from diagnosis to NIV initiation in those diagnosed between 2010 and 2019 was 3.61 years. Significant differences between ALS clinical center cohorts were seen in time to gastrostomy insertion, time to NIV initiation, and in overall survival time.
Conclusion
Our analysis of a large, well-defined, population-based European cohort provides detailed insight into the natural history of ALS, highlighting phenotypic and genetic factors affecting time to key clinical milestones. Further study is needed to determine the drivers in observed differences between ALS clinical center cohorts in time to clinical interventions and overall survival.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
Keywords: | Time-to-event; survival analysis; clinical milestones; disease trajectory; disease progression |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Medicine and Population Health |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Economic and Social Research Council ES/L008238/1 National Institute for Health and Care Research IS-BRC-1215-20017 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE NIHR301648 Medical Research Council MR/L501529/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 21 May 2025 10:53 |
Last Modified: | 21 May 2025 10:53 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Informa UK Limited |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/21678421.2024.2448535 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:226936 |