Anup D. Patel, MD: Long-Term Use of CBD in Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome

“Now we have long-term data to say, ‘Hey, if you’re going to prescribe this for your patients, you can expect to see continued efficacy over time. You’re not going to see a drop-off, it’s going to continue to work.”

New long-term data from an open-label extension trial of cannabidiol (CBD) in patients with Lennox-Gastuat Syndrome (LGS) showed that the therapy remains well-tolerated up to a total of roughly 4 years of use.

Presented at the American Epilepsy Society’s (AES) annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, the data revealed maintained reductions in drop and total seizure frequency through 72 weeks of exposure. As well, a high proportion of patients and caregivers noted an improvement in the overall condition of the patients.

These results suggest a long-term benefit of the treatment and a durability of effect in patients with LGS. Approved by the FDA for the treatment of both LGS and Dravet Syndrome in June 2018, CBD was previously evaluated in 2 phase 3 trials, GWPCARE3 (NCT02224560) and GWPCARE4 (NCT02224690).

At the AES meeting, Anup D. Patel, MD, the section chief of pediatric neurology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and an associate professor of clinical pediatrics and neurology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine spoke NeurologyLive about the extension and what the findings mean for patients.