Long-term survival outcomes of patients with Niemann-Pick disease type C receiving miglustat treatment: a large retrospective observational study.

Miglustat has been indicated for the treatment of Niemann-Pick disease Type C (NP-C) since 2009. The aim of this observational study was to assess the effect of miglustat on long-term survival of patients with NP-C. Data for 789 patients from five large national cohorts and from the NPC Registry were collected and combined. Miglustat-treated and untreated patients overall and within sub-groups according to age-at-neurological-onset, that is, early infantile-onset ( /=15 years) were analysed and compared. Survival was analysed from the time of first neurological manifestation (Neurological onset group, comprising 669 patients) and from diagnosis (Diagnosis group, comprising 590 patients) using a Cox proportional hazard model adjusted for various covariates. Overall, 384 (57.4%) patients in the Neurological onset group and 329 (55.8%) in the Diagnosis group were treated with miglustat. Miglustat treatment was associated with a significant reduction in risk of mortality in both groups (entire Neurological onset group, Hazard ratio [HR] = 0.51; entire Diagnosis group, HR = 0.44; both P < 0.001). The effect was observed consistently in all age-at-neurological-onset sub-groups (HRs = 0.3 to 0.7) and was statistically significant for late infantile-onset patients in both groups (Neurological onset group, HR = 0.36, P < 0.05; Diagnosis group, HR = 0.32, P < 0.01), and juvenile-onset patients in the Diagnosis group only (HR = 0.30, P < 0.05). Despite the limitations of the data that urge cautious interpretation, the findings are consistent with a beneficial effect of miglustat on survival in patients with NP-C. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.