title: m-TOR inhibitors: what role in liver transplantation?
abstract: The development of calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) led to marked improvements in patient and graft survival after liver transplantation (LTx). We have been left, however, with a dependence on immunosuppressive agents with nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, adverse impacts on cardiac risk profile, and risk for malignancy. These challenges need to be met against a dominance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as indications for liver transplant. Unmet needs for immunosuppression (IS) in LTx include: (1) Effective drugs that avoid CNIs toxicities. (2) Agents without adverse impact on HCV recurrence. (3) Compounds that minimize risk of HCC recurrence. New immunosuppressives will need to address the above needs while supporting patient and graft survival equivalent to those achievable with CNIs, ideally without important new toxicities. Two new classes of agents are currently in advanced clinical development: belatacept, and the mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors (m-TORi). This manuscript will review evidence for a role for m-TORi in LTx in a range of clinical scenarios including patients with CNI nephrotoxicity or neurotoxicity, patients at risk of (or with) HCV recurrence, and patients at risk of HCC recurrence.
authors.affiliation: Division of Transplantation, Department of Surgery, University of Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Toshiyasu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawahara
authors.forename: Sonal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asthana
authors.forename: Norman M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Kneteman
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity / Q000187:drug effects; D065095:Calcineurin Inhibitors; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000601:surgery; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D000068338:Everolimus; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000187:drug effects; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000276:immunology* / Q000379:methods; D015398:Signal Transduction; D020123:Sirolimus / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: D065095:Calcineurin Inhibitors; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D000068338:Everolimus; C546842:MTOR protein, human; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases; D020123:Sirolimus