It is also treated with sometimes more and longer-lived success with Cytoxan, a cancer immunosupressant chemotherapy drug. There is also plasma exchange to reduce the immune antibodies in some cases. Sometimes all three are tried or combined. There have been relativly few cures, and the disease generally, but not always, requires regular treatment on the order of every two months or so. Some patients never progress from their initial condition, and others have experienced rare spontaneous remissions with no treatment.
Total disablement is relatively infrequent.
Some rare cases also involve nearly every muscle and nerve, including the those of the cranial area. Some hallmarks of MMN either with or without conduction block, are high levels of various antibodies. These are only rarely found in ALS and are a fairly reliable indicator. Also, MMN with conduction block does not always have the high level of certain antibodies, but rather a prominent conduction block shown on EMG of one or more motor nerves. Some patients have both.