Toripalimab
Loqtorzi · PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor
First FDA-approved drug for nasopharyngeal carcinoma; renal risk is class-typical immune-mediated interstitial nephritis.
PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor
Unloxcyt · PD-L1 inhibitor
PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor · approved 2024 · 5 citations
Describes how this page is sourced, not how dangerous the drug is. Thinly sourced means fewer of the sourcing signals are met — not that the agent is kidney-safe. A rule-based summary, not a formal certainty appraisal.
PD-L1 blockade for cutaneous SCC — watch for late immune interstitial nephritis
Signature lesion
1–3% range across studies
Drug-specific renal data are limited. In the pivotal phase 1 metastatic CSCC cohort (n=78), immune-related adverse events occurred in 23.1% of patients (grade 3 in 2.6%; no grade 4/5), with no nephritis-specific signal reported and a favorable overall safety profile. By class, immune-mediated nephritis/AKI with checkpoint inhibitors is uncommon: a 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis of 27 studies (24,048 patients) found a pooled all-cause AKI incidence of ~5.7%, with clinically significant immune-mediated nephritis substantially lower (roughly 1-3%), and anti-PD-L1 agents tending toward the lower end of that range versus CTLA-4 or combination regimens.Source: Class-level estimate from Liu et al., Front Immunol 2023 (PMID 37313406): pooled ICI-associated AKI incidence 5.7%; drug-specific phase 1 safety from Clingan et al., J Immunother Cancer 2023 (PMID 37848259).
Weeks to months; pooled ICI median ~3–4 months (~108 days).
Distilled from: “Delayed and variable — typically weeks to months after initiation. Pooled ICI data place median time to AKI at roughly 3-4 months (~108 days), though onset ranges from a few weeks to after treatment discontinuation.”
In the multicenter ICI-AKI cohort ~22% were rechallenged and ~23% of those developed recurrent AKI — feasible but an individualized, co-managed decision. PMID 31896554 (opens PubMed in a new tab)
Class-level checkpoint-inhibitor AKI recovery: in a 138-patient multicenter ICI-AKI cohort, complete, partial, and no recovery of kidney function occurred in roughly 40%, 45%, and 15% of patients respectively. Two covariates carried a better renal prognosis — treatment with steroids, and the PRESENCE of a concomitant tubulointerstitial-nephritis-causing medication (69% of patients were on one). The second is an observational association, not an intervention: the cohort analysed no effect of stopping that drug, and the likeliest reading is that a competing culprit makes the ICI a less certain cause. Rechallenge is feasible in selected patients but recurrent AKI occurs in about a quarter.PMID 31896554 (opens PubMed in a new tab)
Long-term outcome and threshold data distilled from the agent's cited literature — educational, not a substitute for the primary sources.
Recovery across agentsThis agent's kidney lesions ordered by prominence — the #1 signature lesion first, then secondary and rare patterns. Cited incidence is shown where a citable figure exists; otherwise the tier stands qualitatively.
Acute tubulointerstitial nephritis is the signature ICI renal lesion — dominant in 93% of the 60 biopsied patients in a 138-patient multicenter ICI-AKI cohort (a biopsy-lesion proportion, not a treated-population incidence). PMID 31896554 (opens PubMed in a new tab)
Renal electrolyte derangement — magnesium/potassium/calcium wasting (cisplatin, anti-EGFR antibodies) or retention (FGFR-inhibitor hyperphosphatemia, tumor-lysis hyperkalemia/hyperphosphatemia).
Case-level; glomerular lesions (2 membranous nephropathy, 2 minimal change disease) among 12 biopsy/nephrologist-attributed ICI nephrotoxicity cases. PMID 32601079 (opens PubMed in a new tab)
Tap a signature to trace where it strikes the nephron.
Acute Interstitial Nephritis
Immune-mediated inflammation of the renal interstitium — the signature kidney injury of checkpoint inhibitors.
Cosibelimab is a fully human IgG1 monoclonal antibody that binds programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), blocking its interaction with the PD-1 and B7-1 (CD80) receptors and thereby restoring T-cell anti-tumor activity. Unlike effector-silenced anti-PD-L1 antibodies, it retains a functional Fc domain and can additionally engage antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement-dependent cytotoxicity against PD-L1-expressing tumor cells.
27 grade-indexed syndromes across 11 organ systems, written for checkpoint blockade as a class rather than per agent — where a rate differs between anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, anti-CTLA-4 and combination therapy, the card names the class it was measured in.
Class-level context for the major non-renal toxicities of the PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor class.
Endocrine
Thyroiditis, hypophysitis, diabetes
Gastrointestinal
Diarrhea, colitis, mucositis, perforation
Hepatic / Liver
Transaminitis, hepatitis, VOD/SOS
Pulmonary
Pneumonitis, ILD, effusions, hypertension
Dermatologic
Rash, HFS, SJS/TEN, vitiligo
5 primary references — trials, cohorts, mechanism, and reviews. Citation metadata via PubMed / NLM.
Primary (non–case-report) references per year — a proxy for how actively the agent's renal literature is accruing. Recent years are highlighted. Reflects curation depth, not a systematic bibliometric count.
Each recommendation below is this atlas's faithful summary of the source, not a quotation from it — follow the PubMed link for the wording the society published. Summaries may be superseded; consult the current full text and individualize to the patient.
General onco-nephrology references
Where Cosibelimab sits in nephrotoxicity space — each dot is an anti-cancer agent, positioned so neighbors share a kidney-injury phenotype. Its 6 closest are filled and lead to a numbered marker, matching the numbered cards below.
Loqtorzi · PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor
First FDA-approved drug for nasopharyngeal carcinoma; renal risk is class-typical immune-mediated interstitial nephritis.
Immune checkpoint inhibitor
Acute interstitial nephritis with long latency.
Bavencio · Anti-PD-L1 antibody
ICI-associated AIN.
Libtayo · Anti-PD-1 antibody
ICI-associated AIN.
Jemperli · Anti-PD-1 antibody
ICI-associated AIN.
Imfinzi · Anti-PD-L1 antibody
ICI-associated AIN.
Nearest agents by kidney-injury phenotype (shared injuries, nephron target, severity, class) — a similarity approximation, not a claim of shared drug identity or mechanism.
Same-class agents ordered by their documented kidney-injury profile — atlas severity, an acute-kidney-injury FAERS signal, and how many injury types each is documented to cause. Agents nearer the top carry the lighter documented renal profile.
A comparison of documented kidney-injury data within one drug class — not a substitution recommendation. Efficacy, indication, and non-renal toxicity differ between these agents and are out of scope here. Educational only, not medical advice.