Aggressive chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant can halt the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), a small study has suggested.
The research, published in The Lancet, looked at 24 patients aged between 18 and 50 from three hospitals in Canada.
For 23 patients the treatment greatly reduced the onset of the disease, but in one case a person died.
An MS Society spokeswoman said this type of treatment does "offer hope" but also comes with "significant risks".
Around 100,000 people in the UK have MS, which is an incurable neurological disease.
'No relapses'
The condition causes the immune system to attack the lining of nerves in the brain and spinal cord. Most patients are diagnosed in their 20s and 30s.
One existing treatment is for the immune system to be suppressed with chemotherapy and then stem cells are introduced to the patient's bloodstream - this procedure is known as an autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT).