[Ruth Cuadra]

Cyclosporine and prednisone are immunosuppressants so they both play a part in keeping the patient's "old" immune system suppressed until the "new" one can take root during the transplant process. At the same time, these drugs are also trying to keep the "new" immune system from becoming too aggressive and attacking the patient's own body as a foreign irritant, which is what happens in graft vs. host disease. Getting the balance right between too much and too little immunosuppression is part of the art of medicine that our transplant doctors perform. There are also other drugs that can be used in the mix, including tacrolimus (Prograf), mycophenolate (CellCept), and methotrexate so there are a lot of options for tailoring a protocol for a specific patient.

Ruth