Study: Prograf Better Than Cyclosporine for Liver Transplant Recipients

A study of more than 600 liver transplants in the United Kingdom and Ireland found that outcomes in the first year were significantly better for patients whose immunosuppression was based on Prograf rather than on cyclosporine, according to a report in The Lancet.

Dr John O'Grady of King's College Hospital in London reported that 17 percent of the more than 300 patients randomly assigned to Prograf died within the first year compared to 24 percent of the more than 300 patients assigned to cyclosporine.

Four precent of those assigned to Prograf required transplantation of a second liver, he reported, compared to 10 percent of those assigned to cyclosporine.

Two percent of those on Prograf suffered treatment failure for immunological reasons compared to four percent of those on cyclosporine, he added.

"Tacrolimus (Prograf) should be the first choice of calcineurin inhibitor for patients receiving their first liver graft," the researchers concluded.

Other sources: The Lancet