A randomized long-term trial of tacrolimus/sirolimus versus tacrolimums/mycophenolate versus cyclosporine/sirolimus in renal transplantation: three-year analysis

BACKGROUND: We report three-year (interim) effects of combining sirolimus (Siro) vs. mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) as adjunctive therapy with calcineurin inhibitors (CI) in renal transplantation in the three different CI-based regimens. METHODS: Between May 2000 and December 2001, 150 recipients of deceased donor (DD) and living donor (LD) kidney transplants were randomized into three groups (n=50/group): Group A (Tacro/Siro), Group B (Tacro/MMF) and Group C (CsA/Siro). This report details drug dosing and monitoring, protocol discontinuance, biopsy-proven rejection, graft failure, other adverse events, and death at 36 months postoperatively. RESULTS: Actual patient and graft survival respectively in Group A was 90% and 82%, in Group B was 92% and 88%, and in Group C was 96% and 88% (not significant). Biopsy-confirmed acute rejection incidents showed a trend in favor of Group B (10%) vs. Group A (26%) and Group C (20%) combined (P=0.07). The geometric mean */SE serum creatinine concentration and arithmetic mean +/- SE Cockroft-Gault creatinine clearance calculations, respectively, were 1.39*/1.1 and 72.8+/-4.3 for Group A, 1.36*/1.1 and 72.1+/-4.1 for Group B, and 1.60*/1.1 and 61.8+/-3.8 for Group C, a statistically favorable difference for Group B over Group C (P=0.04). There was also less de novo development of posttransplant diabetes mellitus and lipid disorders in Group B vs. A and C (P<0.04). CONCLUSIONS: This three-year (interim) analysis has indicated a trend towards better graft function, fewer endocrine disorders, and fewer acute rejection episodes comparing adjunctive MMF and Tacro vs. Siro and Tacro or Siro and CsA, in the dosages used.