Cold and warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia

Catherine Broome, MD, Lombardi Cancer Center, Washington, DC, gives an update on autoimmune hemolytic anemias. Warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia accounts for around 80% of all autoimmune hemolytic anemias, and it’s mediated by an IgG autoantibody. While cold autoimmune hemolytic anemia is less common, accounting for about 15-18% of cases, and it’s mediated by an IgM autoantibody that subsequently, after binding to the antigen on the surface of the red blood cell, activates the classical pathway of complement, which is responsible for hemolysis. This interview took place at the Lymphoma, Leukemia & Myeloma Congress 2021.