On Alzforum, Researchers Debate How to Conduct Alzheimer’s Trials

Newswise — New drugs developed to treat Alzheimer’s disease have failed when tested in patients. One explanation is that scientists are simply selecting the wrong types of drugs. It is also possible that the drug choice is fine, but the treatments are being applied too late in the disease process. Candidate drugs have so far been tested in patients who have dementia; by that time, the disease may be too far along to do much about it. In a recent opinion piece published in the November 30 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine, Alzheimer’s disease experts Reisa Sperling of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston; Clifford Jack of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota; and Paul Aisen of the University of California, San Diego, lay out the case for testing anti-amyloid candidate drugs at an earlier stage, in patients who have yet to show clinical signs of disease.

Although these so-called prevention trials would face many challenges, Sperling and colleagues acknowledge, they may be what’s needed to finally produce a success in the field. But not everyone agrees. Alzforum invited other Alzheimer’s experts to weigh in on the proposal and debate the issue. Their opinions, which can be read on the Alzforum website (www.alzforum.org), range from enthusiastic support to notes of caution.