Steroid withdrawal in renal transplant recipients: pro point of view.

Steroid-free immunosuppression remains an attractive goal in an era in which the transplant community should be promoting long-term allograft survival by reducing cardiovascular risk and maximizing long-term patient survival. In the cyclosporine era, the risks of steroid withdrawal outweighed the benefits of steroid withdrawal in a substantial minority of patients. A number of new immunosuppressants may prove to be more steroid sparing than cyclosporine alone and promise to increase the safety of steroid-free immunosuppression for renal transplant recipients.