Clinical transplantation: current problems, possible solutions
I have attempted to summarize the progress that has been made in organ transplantation in the past 50 years since the first identical twin transplant. For those who have worked long in this area its success has been remarkable. We currently expect patients to survive the operation and more than 90%...
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Published in | Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological sciences Vol. 360; no. 1461; pp. 1797 - 1801 |
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Main Author | |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
London
The Royal Society
29.09.2005
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | I have attempted to summarize the progress that has been made in organ transplantation in the past 50 years since the first identical twin transplant. For those who have worked long in this area its success has been remarkable. We currently expect patients to survive the operation and more than 90% of the graft to be functioning at a year with the half-life of the graft beyond 10 years, with some patients surviving into the fifth decade after kidney transplantation with grafts from unrelated donors and the fourth decade for liver transplants. Now the main stumbling block is shortage of organ donors and this is unlikely to be solved easily. There has been a considerable increase in donations from living volunteers and also the worry of immoral and illegal practices. In the future, we can expect considerable advances in immunosuppression with more effective, less toxic drugs and in some patients induction therapy that may approach tolerance so that no maintenance therapy will eventually be needed. Cell transplantation is likely to be developed as treatment for the clinic in the next 5-10 years, but developments of transplantation from animal to man still remains unsolved and unlikely to be successful in the clinic in the near future. |
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Bibliography: | ark:/67375/V84-K4G47VWZ-5 href:1797.pdf istex:9E01C56CFA86C43C87605F595C91CB73916B70E4 ArticleID:rstb20051708 Theme Issue 'Immunoregulation: harnessing T cell biology for therapeutic benefit' compiled by S. M. Metcalfe, R. Y. Calne and S. P. Cobbold |
ISSN: | 0962-8436 1471-2970 |
DOI: | 10.1098/rstb.2005.1708 |