Among people with cold agglutinin disease (CAD), more than half were found to have a related autoimmune disorder called cryoglobulinemia, which affected symptom presentation but did not appear to affect survival. That’s according to a small study in which 59% of CAD patients tested positive for cryoglobulins, the…
BioCryst is working to develop a new oral therapy for cold agglutinin disease (CAD) that suppresses the immune complement cascade, and expects to have a lead candidate selected by 2025. This and other drug development plans were shared recently by the biotech company in a “R&D Day”…
A bipartisan team of congressional representatives is proposing new legislation that aims to make it easier for people with rare disorders like cold agglutinin disease (CAD) to access treatments that may be beneficial even if they haven’t been formally approved for that indication. The legislation — called the…
A 2-year-old, healthy girl developed a severe, mixed form of autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) as a result of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, a case study reports. While AIHA — a group of rare autoimmune conditions that include cold agglutinin disease (CAD) — secondary to COVID-19…
In people with cold agglutinin disease (CAD), pre-treatment with rituximab and plasma exchange may help limit complications during surgeries where the patient’s body temperature is decreased, a new report illustrates. The case study, “Total arch replacement for an aortic arch aneurysm with cold agglutinin disease after…
About one in five people infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 test positive on a direct Coombs test, which indicates their red blood cells may be covered with antibodies like those that cause cold agglutinin disease (CAD), a small study reports. Those antibodies, called cold agglutinins, weren’t…
In rare cases, cold agglutinin disease (CAD) may develop as a delayed complication of a combination of immune-activating cancer therapies called immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), according to a case report. While some cases of autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) — a group of autoimmune disorders that include CAD secondary to…
Diagnosis and treatment of cold agglutinin disease (CAD) secondary to a type of blood cancer was complicated by COVID-19 in a middle-aged man, a case study reports. The researchers identified specific mutations in immune cells that may explain the “treatment resistance and susceptibility to COVID-19,” they wrote in the…
A young woman in Colombia developed cold agglutinin disease (CAD) secondary to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), an autoimmune disease often called lupus, a study reports. While other types of autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) — rare autoimmune diseases marked by self-reactive antibodies attacking and destroying red blood cells —…
Daratumumab, which is approved to treat some cancers, was effective at controlling cold agglutinin disease (CAD) in an elderly woman who failed to respond to rituximab, a study reports. The report, “Refractory cold agglutinin disease successfully treated with daratumumab. A case report and review of literature,”…
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