New trends in immunosuppression

Immunosuppressive agents are the mainstay treatment for patients that have received organ grafts and are becoming increasingly important in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. There are, however, many problems with both the concept and reality of long-term immunosuppression as a therapeutic modality, both in terms of the nonspecific toxicity of the drugs that are currently available and the increased risk of infections and tumours arising from global suppression of the immune system. This special issue of International Immunopharmacology includes papers submitted at the 6th International Conference on New Trends in Immunosuppression that was held in Salzburg during February 2004 that show some of the recent advances, particularly in the field of transplantation tolerance, and demonstrate the complexity of issues limiting our application of experimental developments into effective clinical strategies.