Novel Monoclonal Antibody Therapy in a Patient With Treatment-Refractory Warm Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia

In autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA), hemolysis is the hallmark symptom. Cold agglutinin disease (CAD) and warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia (wAIHA) are the two major forms of AIHA. Hemolysis is complement dependent in CAD, whereas wAIHA is a partially complement-mediated disorder. At the time of writing, sutimlimab-jome is the only FDA-approved monoclonal antibody in the treatment of CAD. In a case of severe treatment-refractory wAIHA, a two-week course with sutimlimab-jome resulted in a sustained decrease in total bilirubin level and a notable reduction in transfusion requirement, suggesting that it is also effective in the treatment of wAIHA.

Automated summary

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is characterized by hemolysis, with cold agglutinin disease (CAD) and warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia (wAIHA) being the two major forms. CAD is complement dependent, whereas wAIHA is partially complement-mediated. Sutimlimab-jome is the only FDA-approved monoclonal antibody for CAD treatment, and it has shown efficacy in treating severe treatment-refractory wAIHA as well.