The MELODY study, co-funded by Kidney Research UK, involved more than 28,000 patients across the UK treated with medications that reduce how well their immune systems function (known as ‘immunosuppression’), including those with solid organ transplants, blood cancer and autoimmune diseases (including vasculitis and lupus).
New results, presented by Dr Michelle Willicombe from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, showed that the proportion of kidney transplant patients receiving 3 combined immunosuppression medications after one-year post-transplant, ranged between 12-69% across UK centres. Further investigation is needed to confirm this finding, but the research team could not explain the differences based on any clinical factors.
Michelle added “We know that approaches to immunosuppression vary across UK kidney transplant centres, but this is the first time that data on long term treatments has been studied. The differences between the centres are quite stark. I think the data shows the need for better information on long term use of immunosuppression and the corresponding outcomes within the UK. We need to make a commitment to provide a more individualised approach to immunosuppression and step away from variation introduced by postcodes.”