Researchers are exploring the tantalizing prospect of identifying patients with kidney transplants who do not need to continue to take antirejection medicines to preserve their donated organ. At the very least, this line of research might enable physicians to recognize those patients with renal allografts who could take less immunosuppressive medicine, reducing the risks of infection and cancer associated with such drugs.

Researchers are hoping to identify the rare patients with kidney transplants who do not need antirejection medicines, allowing them to avoid the adverse effects of such drugs. (Photo credit: AJPhoto/www.sciencesource.com)

Such hopes were raised by researchers in the United States and Europe who identified biological signatures of a small minority of patients who had stopped taking antirejection medicines for a variety of reasons, such as adverse effects or cost, yet still preserved their allograft function.

source:JAMA