The Curious Case of the Regulatory T-Cell, Part 1

Though BK nephropathy is a common risk of being on an immunosuppression regimen after transplantation (about 80% of the population is already infected with it) another major but less talked about risk is developing cancer. This is many times overlooked when one thinks of the negative effects of having an organ transplant, but the reality is that in order to keep a graft alive it is necessary to suppress the system in our bodies which fights cancer. However, good things can come from such morbid side effects as it is possible that we may have a found a potential way to both help increase the chance of graft survival and to reduce the malignancy of many cancers. Unfortunately, fighting cancer with this regimen may decrease the life expectancy of a graft, while supporting the graft may make it much harder to fight the cancer. The key to both treatments lies in how the elusive regulatory T-Cell functions.