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Driving novel endpoints and study designs in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: closer examination of the ALSFRS-R subdomains and a new definition of fast and slow progressors

Ellis, R.; Nowell, W. B.; Patel, N.; Wipperman, M. F.; Lyu, J.; Mishra, S.; Scotina, A.; Tu, D.; Wagner, J. A.; Levy, O.

2025-08-24 neurology
10.1101/2025.08.21.25334108 medRxiv
Show abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a motor neuron disease that leads to significant morbidity and mortality, but with substantial variability in the rate of progression [1,2]. A common primary outcome measure used in ALS clinical studies is the ALSFRS-R. Change in this measure may also be used to stratify fast and slow progressors, typically with the assumption of linear decline. Reported limitations of the ALSFRS-R and the assumption of linear slope may hinder novel therapy development. Here we use two distinct populations from a clinical trial database (PRO-ACT) and a natural history registry (ALS TDI) to show that ALSFRS-R fine and gross motor subdomains are more sensitive to disease progression than total score and bulbar and respiratory subdomain scores. We also present a novel non-linear method for defining fast and slow progressors. Together these results may improve demonstration of outcomes in ALS interventional studies using the ALSFRS-R.

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