Immunosuppressive therapy - New concepts

Although several new immunosuppressive medications were developed in the past decade, many possible avenues are yet to be explored. Although the new agents have not reflected any clear benefit over cyclosporine A (CsA) or tacrolimus in patient or graft survirval, they have been useful in reducing the incidence and severity of rejection, reducing the concomitant use of steroids, and decreasing the doses of CsA or tacrolimus to minimize their toxicity profile. The appearance of these new agents has given more options to clinicians, who can select the one with the least toxicity and most efficacy for individual patients. In the future, combinations of these agents, in conjunction with a strategy to induce tolerance of the donor be the goal.