The clinical efficacy and safety of granulocyte and monocyte adsorptive apheresis in patients with Crohn's disease: A multicenter retrospective pilot study

Introduction: A remission induction therapy of granulocyte and monocyte adsorptive apheresis (GMA) was given to patients with Crohn's disease (CD). However, establishing an appropriate treatment strategy for GMA in patients with CD remains unclear.Methods: This study evaluated the clinical efficacy and subsequent clinical progression after GMA in patients with CD who underwent GMA in seven independent institutions in Japan from 2010 to 2023.Results: Sixteen patients were enrolled. The overall remission and response rates were 25.0% and 68.8%, respectively. All patients responding to GMA received biologics that were continuously used and 36.4% of patients remained on the same biologics 52 weeks after GMA. Notably, all patients who continued the same biologics had previously experienced a loss of response to biologics.Conclusion: GMA may exhibit effectiveness even in cases with refractory CD. Moreover, it represents a potential novel therapeutic option for refractory CD with loss of response to biologics.