Extracorporeal immunoadsorption of plasma from a metastatic colon carcinoma patient by protein A-containing nonviable Staphylococcus aureus: clinical, biochemical, serologic, and histologic evaluation of the patient's response.

A patient with a metastatic colon carcinoma was treated by immunoadsorption (IA) therapy using heat-killed, formalin-stabilized protein A-containing Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I as the immunoadsorbent. The patient experienced both subjective and objective positive clinical response without undue morbidity. The patient's response correlated well with laboratory findings of decreased concentrations of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), immunoglobulin G (IgG), immune complexes (IC) and histopathologic data. The patient underwent surgery following 15 IA treatments; she lived for eighteen months, post-treatment.