Skip to main content

Or 34,00 After 66% tax deduction

I make a monthly donation I make an IFI donation
Research, science & health

Epilepsy: Lacosamide alone is effective to treat focal seizures

Published on: 27/12/2016 Reading time: 1 min
cerveau

A stage 3 clinical trial has proven the efficacy of lacosamide alone to treat focal seizures, specifically as a first-line treatment for newly diagnosed epilepsy.

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological illnesses, with recurring seizures that can alter information transfer by neurons. It affects roughly 430,000 individuals in France and over 50 million individuals around the world. Several treatments are available however none are currently curative. The efficacy and adverse side effects of antiepileptic drugs vary from one person to the next.

Selecting initial treatment for newly diagnosed epilepsy in adults is essential and depends on a number of parameters: type(s) of seizures and epileptic syndrome, gender, potential pregnancy, comorbidity, co-medication… These factors reduce the number of treatments adapted to a specific patient, which is why the medical community hopes to see the rise of new single-drug treatment possibilities.

In a stage 3 clinical trial, Michel Baulac and colleagues tested the efficacy of lacosamide alone as a first-line treatment in newly diagnosed adults with epilepsy. They compared it with carbamazepine, a frequently prescribed treatment with established efficacy.

Lacosamide has been prescribed as an antiepileptic drug since 2008. It was first used as additive therapy for patients with focal seizures (with or without secondary generalization). It has limited side effects and a low risk of drug interaction.

The study was conducted on 888 patients over the course of up to 2 years for some patients. Half of the patients, selected at random, were administered lacosamide and the other half were administered extended-release carbamazepine.

Proof of lacosamide efficacy relies on the observation of a percentage of patients without seizure relapses for 6 months equivalent to the percentage observed with carbamazepine. Both treatments were well tolerated, with certain differences: increased drowsiness with carbamazepine, increased dizziness with lacosamide.

These results suggest that lacosamide is a good candidate for treating epilepsy in newly diagnosed adult patients.

The protocol, a repetition of clinical practice patterns, was the following: after a plateau, patients were administered treatments with a 200mg daily dose for lacosamide or 400mg daily dose for carbamazepine. In case of seizures, the dosage was increased up to 600mg daily for lacosamide and 1200mg daily for carbamazepine. Patients with no seizures over the course of the 6-month treatment entered a stabilization phase with the same dosage as the previous 6 months. Treatment efficacy was therefore evaluated in patients who did not experience seizures for 6 consecutive months after stabilization with the last dosage tested.

schéma

Sources

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(16)3029…
Michel Baulac, Felix Rosenow, Manuel Toledo, Kiyohito Terada, Ting Li, Marc De Backer, Konrad J Werhahn, Melissa Brock.

Our news on the subject

Le développement du cerveau a une part d’aléatoire
The stochastic aspect of brain development
Although every person’s personality is the result of genetic and environmental factors, these are not the only factors at play. Bassem Hassan and his team at Paris Brain Institute have discovered that, in fruit flies (drosophila), individuality also...
05.12.2025 Research, science & health
Analyse MERSCOPE
New treatment pathways for brain malformation-linked focal epilepsy?
A study by Stéphanie Baulac’s team has revealed somatic mutations in different cell types in patients with type 2 focal cortical dysplasia. This disease causes drug-resistant epileptic seizures, for which the main treatment option is currently...
05.12.2025 Research, science & health
Un iceberg
The ICEBERG cohort, 10 years of collective scientific and medical mobilization
The ICEBERG cohort, initiated 10 years ago, is interested in studying factors predictive of the onset and progression of Parkinson’s disease.
05.15.2025 Research, science & health
La huntingtine est une protéine indispensable au développement embryonnaire, à la formation et au maintien du tissu cérébral.
Huntington's Disease: The Energy Hypothesis Gets Traction
Huntington's disease, a rare hereditary neurological disorder, is associated with an energy deficit that precedes the onset of symptoms and is closely linked to their progression. At Paris Brain Institute, Fanny Mochel and her colleagues are testing...
02.11.2025 Research, science & health
À la recherche de marqueurs d’imagerie dans la démence frontotemporale
Searching for Imaging Markers in Frontotemporal Dementia
Could exploring the relationships between different brain networks help us understand frontotemporal dementia (FTD)? This neurodegenerative disease, which progresses at varying rates, is often diagnosed late—when clinical signs are already severe. At...
01.07.2025 Research, science & health
Monocyte – un globule blanc qui se différencie en macrophage. Crédit : Université d’Edinbourg.
Discovery of a Macrophage Anomaly in Multiple Sclerosis
Certain patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) can partially regenerate myelin—the protective sheath that surrounds nerve fibers—which is damaged during the evolution of the disease. In studying how immune cells influence this remyelination...
12.19.2024 Research, science & health
See all our news