Tolerance

Recently, The Transplantation Society convened a workshop to address the question, “What do we need to have in place to make tolerance induction protocols a ‘standard of care’ for organ transplant recipients over the next decade” In a productive 2-day meeting, there was wide-ranging discussion on a broad series of topics, resulting in five consensus recommendations as follows: (1) establish a registry of results for patients enrolled in tolerance trials; (2) establish standardized protocols for sample collection and storage; (3) establish standardized biomarkers and assays; (4) include children 12 years and older in protocols that have been validated in adults; and (5) establish a task force to engage third-party payers in discussions of how to fund tolerance trials. Future planned workshops will focus on progress in implementing these recommendations and identifying other steps that the community needs to take.