A study published in Kidney International questioned whether steroid-free immunosuppression in kidney transplantation should become standard therapy. Steroid-free immunosuppression has been gaining popularity over the past decade, and has been documented by a continuous and steady rise in the number of kidney transplant patients discharged on steroid-free regimens. This type of therapy hopes to alleviate some of the severe side effects of  long-term steroid use such as elevated cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
 
Many clinical trials have demonstrated the positive impact of steroid-free immunosuppression, at the expense of a slight increase in the rate of acute rejection, which should also be taken into account. The largest study to date has shown the selective use of steroid-free immunosuppression in kidney transplant patients provides no inferior outcome in patient and organ survival. 

This article originally appeared in the August 2009 issue of Kidney Transplant Today.