Early Diagnosis and Treatment – The Use of Ataluren in the Effective Management of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

The understanding of the natural history of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is increasing rapidly and new treatments are emerging that have the potential to substantially improve the prognosis for patients with this disabling and life-shortening disease. For many, however, there is a long delay between the appearance of symptoms and DMD diagnosis, which reduces the possibility of successful treatment. DMD results from mutations in the large dystrophin gene of which one-third are de novo mutations and two-thirds are inherited from a female carrier. Roughly 75% of mutations are large rearrangements and 25% are point mutations. Certain deletions and nonsense mutations can be treated whereas many other mutations cannot currently be treated. This emphasises the need for early genetic testing to identify the mutation, guide treatment and inform genetic counselling. Treatments for DMD include corticosteroids and more recently, ataluren has been approved in Europe, the first disease-modifying therapy for treating DMD caused by nonsense mutations. The use of ataluren in DMD is supported by positive results from phase IIb and phase III studies in which the treatment produced marked improvements in the 6-minute walk test, timed function tests such as the 10 m walk/run test and the 4-stair ascent/descent test compared with placebo. In these trials, ataluren was well tolerated and adverse event profiles were similar to placebo. As such disease-modifying treatments become more widely available, the outlook for children with DMD will improve but physicians must be aware of the disease, rapidly initiate testing where it is suspected and promptly begin appropriate treatment.