A recent study conducted at 14 sites and multiple centers internationally (Spain, Italy, France, Australia, US of America) showed that more tailored immunosuppression will help patients avoid the risks associated with transplant rejection. This next-generation sequencing tool may be able to predict the risk of early acute kidney rejection before receiving a transplant. The current approach is a "one size fits all" approach. This study suggests that using the sequencing risk assessment tool on blood from the patient prior to transplant can accurately predict the likelihood of a rejection within the first 60 days.
What does this all mean?
One fear of dialysis patients in receiving transplants is hearing of horror stories of recipients dying because they received a transplant. That isn't truth and is caused by a lack of understanding of organ rejection and requirements of a transplant recipient. I have had my transplant for over 11 years and had only 1 acute rejection episode and a later rejection episode brought on by an infection.
The use of this advanced generation sequencing can greatly reduce those early or acute rejection episodes by tailoring immunosuppression to the patient. This will avoid risks associated with oversuppression (too much medicine for that particular patient) and under immunosuppression (too little medicine for a particular patient). This is a big win for dialysis patients who are looking into a kidney transplant, as it greatly improves long-term success and decreases early or acute rejection episodes related to immunosuppression.