Interferon Beta-1a Treatment and African Americans

In the article “Response to Interferon Beta-1a Treatment in African American Multiple Sclerosis Patients,” the authors¹ suggest that African Americans (AAs) are less responsive to interferon beta-1a than white Americans (WAs), paralleling an earlier publication² that showed a more rapid progression of multiple sclerosis in AA patients. Their conclusions have implications for further study, but their data raise several questions.