Medical Journal Reports Possible New Treatment for Cold Agglutinin

Responsible for treating thousands of hematology and oncology patients over the past 30 years, Kenneth D. Nahum, DO, works at Regional Cancer Care Associates, LLC, in Howell, New Jersey. Active in his professional community, Dr. Kenneth D. Nahum maintains membership with the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

ASH’s medical journal, Blood, recently reported exciting news about the effort to develop a treatment for cold agglutinin disease, a rare blood disorder with no approved treatment at present. Affecting about 10,000 people in the United States and Europe, cold agglutinin is an immune system malfunction that mistakenly causes antibodies to target and destroy red blood cells faster than the bone marrow can replace them.

As reported in Blood, the first clinical trial with 10 humans showed the investigational drug sutimlimab may be an effective treatment for cold agglutinin disease. Sutimlimab, which is a specific C1s inhibitor, showed the ability to prevent red blood cell destruction and increase hemoglobin levels in seven of the 10 patients. The patients who responded well to the new drug therapy no longer had the need for transfusions.