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Androgen receptor inhibitor (ARSI)

Darolutamide

Nubeqa · DARO

Androgen receptor inhibitor (ARSI) · approved 2019 · 5 references

Next-generation androgen receptor inhibitor for prostate cancer; not intrinsically nephrotoxic, but systemic exposure rises in severe renal impairment, prompting dose consideration.

Signature injury
Electrolyte Disturbance
Severity
Mild
Reversibility
Reversible
Onset
Not applicable for intrinsic injury; exposure differences in renal impairment are present from initiation and steady state (reached in ~2 days).

Signature kidney injury & incidence

Electrolyte Disturbance.

No characteristic intrinsic nephrotoxicity. In ARAMIS, rates of adverse events including hypertension were similar to placebo. Renal-relevant findings are pharmacokinetic (increased exposure in severe renal impairment); intrinsic renal injury incidence not meaningfully quantified.

Source: Fizazi et al., NEJM 2019 (ARAMIS; AE profile similar to placebo)

Reported injury signatures: Electrolyte Disturbance, Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI.

Renal toxicity profile

  1. Electrolyte DisturbancePrimary
  2. Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKISecondary

Onset timing & rechallenge

Variable / unpredictable — No intrinsic renal injury is described (onset not applicable); the days reflect pharmacokinetics only — exposure differences in renal impairment are present from initiation, with steady state reached in about 2 days.

Mechanism of kidney injury

Darolutamide is not an established direct nephrotoxin. Its renal relevance is pharmacokinetic: it is metabolized (oxidation and glucuronidation) and excreted in urine and feces, and systemic exposure increases in patients with severe renal impairment, so accumulation — not tubular or glomerular injury — is the concern. As an AR-pathway inhibitor (ARSI class), it can be associated with class-level cardiometabolic and, uncommonly, electrolyte/blood-pressure effects, but it showed no excess hypertension versus placebo in its pivotal trial. Any prerenal physiology relates to general illness/volume status rather than a specific drug lesion.

Clinical presentation

Generally no renal-specific presentation. The issue is increased darolutamide exposure (and potential for exposure-related adverse effects) in patients with moderate-to-severe renal impairment, rather than a recognizable nephrotoxic syndrome. Mild electrolyte or blood-pressure changes are uncommon and class-level.

Management

No renal-specific treatment is needed for the drug itself. In severe renal impairment, reduce the starting dose to 300 mg twice daily at treatment initiation given increased exposure, and monitor for exposure-related adverse effects. Manage incidental electrolyte/blood-pressure changes supportively.

Risk factors

  • Severe renal impairment (increased exposure)
  • Concurrent moderate hepatic impairment (also increases exposure)
  • Co-administration affecting BCRP substrates / shared metabolic pathways
  • General frailty/volume depletion in advanced prostate cancer

Prevention

  • Recognize that exposure rises in severe renal impairment; start at 300 mg twice daily in severe renal impairment (eGFR 15-29) and in moderate hepatic impairment per labeling
  • Review concomitant medications for interaction potential (e.g., BCRP substrates)
  • Routine renal-specific prophylaxis not otherwise required

Renal dose adjustment

Reduce the starting dose to 300 mg twice daily in severe renal impairment (eGFR 15-29 mL/min/1.73 m2, not on hemodialysis) and in moderate hepatic impairment, because systemic exposure is increased; standard 600 mg twice daily otherwise.

Dialyzability & ESKD dosing

Dialyzability not formally established; darolutamide is substantially protein-bound and hepatically metabolized, so dialysis is unlikely to be a primary management consideration. Use clinical judgment and labeling in dialysis patients.

Differential diagnosis

AKI or electrolyte disturbance in a darolutamide-treated patient should prompt evaluation for dehydration, obstruction from prostate cancer, contrast/other nephrotoxins, or concomitant therapy — rather than attribution to a direct darolutamide tubular effect.

Monitoring

  • Renal (and hepatic) function to inform starting dose
  • Blood pressure (class-level monitoring)
  • For exposure-related tolerability in severe renal impairment
  • Concomitant BCRP-substrate drugs

Key trials & series

  • ARAMIS (Fizazi et al., NEJM 2019): darolutamide prolonged metastasis-free survival in nmCRPC with an adverse-event profile similar to placebo (no excess hypertension, seizures, or falls)
  • Zurth et al. (Clin Pharmacokinet 2021): dedicated PK study showing increased exposure in severe renal and moderate hepatic impairment, recommending dose-adaptation consideration

Clinical pearls

  • Low blood-brain-barrier penetration limits CNS/seizure effects, a class-distinguishing feature.
  • Watch BCRP-substrate interactions; little CYP/P-gp interaction otherwise.

Anticancer mechanism

Structurally distinct second-generation androgen receptor (AR) signaling inhibitor that competitively antagonizes the AR, blocks AR nuclear translocation and AR-mediated transcription, and has low blood-brain barrier penetration (reducing CNS/seizure effects); it suppresses AR-driven prostate cancer growth.

Note

This is a pharmacokinetic (exposure) consideration, not nephrotoxicity. Darolutamide's low CNS penetration distinguishes it within the ARSI class; its renal story is about dose adaptation in severe impairment.

Guidelines & consensus

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.

  • ADQI (2026) — The nephrotoxic effects of anti-cancer therapies: consensus report of the 34th Acute Disease Quality Initiative workgroupProvides expert-based statements (modified Delphi) on preventing and managing cisplatin/platinum-associated AKI, including isotonic IV hydration, attention to volume status and concomitant nephrotoxins, and incorporates evidence that IV magnesium supplementation may reduce cisplatin-associated AKI; emphasizes risk stratification and standardized AKI definitions.Nat Rev Nephrol · PMID 41361704
  • SIRM (2022) — SIRM-SIN-AIOM: appropriateness criteria for evaluation and prevention of renal damage in the patient undergoing contrast medium examinations-consensus statements from Italian College of Radiology (SIRM), Italian College of Nephrology (SIN) and Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM)Recommends eGFR-based renal risk assessment and pre/post-contrast isotonic saline or sodium bicarbonate hydration; advises maintaining a 5-7 day interval between iodinated contrast administration and cisplatin in cancer patients to reduce additive nephrotoxicity.Radiol Med · PMID 35303246
  • KDIGO (2020) — KDIGO Controversies Conference on onco-nephrology: understanding kidney impairment and solid-organ malignancies, and managing kidney cancerIdentifies platinum compounds (especially cisplatin) as leading cytotoxic causes of acute tubular injury, AKI, and electrolyte/magnesium wasting; calls for interdisciplinary onco-nephrology care, accurate GFR estimation, and individualized drug dosing in patients with reduced kidney function.Kidney Int · PMID 33126977
  • KDIGO (2020) — KDIGO Controversies Conference on onco-nephrology: kidney disease in hematological malignancies and the burden of cancer after kidney transplantationAddresses chemotherapy-associated AKI/CKD in hematologic cancer, GFR estimation and chemotherapy dosing in patients with reduced kidney function, and management priorities and research gaps for onco-nephrology care.Kidney Int · PMID 33276867
  • ADDIKD (2025) — Integrating International Consensus Guidelines for Anticancer Drug Dosing in Kidney Dysfunction (ADDIKD) into everyday practiceProvides GRADE-based, drug-specific dose-adjustment recommendations for anticancer agents in kidney dysfunction (illustrated for methotrexate, cisplatin, carboplatin and nivolumab); the recommendations build on Part 1's standardised CKD-EPI eGFR assessment rather than Cockcroft-Gault creatinine clearance.EClinicalMedicine · PMID 40290844
  • ADDIKD (2025) — Aligning kidney function assessment in patients with cancer to global practices in internal medicineThree consensus recommendations: assess kidney function by GFR (measured GFR or CKD-EPI eGFR), classify it using KDIGO categories, and use this uniform approach to dose anticancer drugs — moving cancer medicine away from Cockcroft-Gault estimated creatinine clearance.EClinicalMedicine · PMID 40290845
  • ADDIKD (2025) — A methodology for determining dosing recommendations for anticancer drugs in patients with reduced kidney functionEstablishes that, where RCT evidence is lacking, anticancer drug dosing recommendations in kidney dysfunction should be derived by critically appraising observational literature via GRADE combined with structured international multidisciplinary consensus voting.EClinicalMedicine · PMID 40290846
  • KDIGO (2013) — Diagnosis, evaluation, and management of acute kidney injury: a KDIGO summary (Part 1)Defines/stages AKI by serum creatinine and urine output; emphasizes avoiding nephrotoxins, maintaining euvolemia/perfusion, dose-adjusting drugs to kidney function, and monitoring high-risk patients — the framework applied to nephrotoxic anti-cancer agents.Crit Care · PMID 23394211
  • KDIGO (2024) — Executive summary of the KDIGO 2024 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Management of Chronic Kidney Disease: known knowns and known unknownsEvaluate and risk-stratify CKD, manage to delay progression and its complications, and practise explicit medication management and drug stewardship — the framework the atlas's G1–G5 eGFR banding and every renal dose-adjustment recommendation sit inside. Because the guideline excludes dialysis and transplant recipients by its own statement of scope, its recommendations do not carry to those settings, where this atlas's dialyzability and post-transplant guidance rests on other sources.Kidney Int · PMID 38519239
  • KDIGO (2021) — Executive summary of the KDIGO 2021 Guideline for the Management of Glomerular DiseasesProvides the staging/treatment framework for drug-associated glomerular lesions (e.g., bisphosphonate- and interferon-related collapsing FSGS, VEGF-inhibitor podocytopathy/proteinuria), including immunosuppression and supportive RAAS-blockade strategies.Kidney Int · PMID 34556300
  • KDIGO (2024) — Executive summary of the KDIGO 2024 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of ANCA-Associated VasculitisUpdates immunosuppressive induction (rituximab/cyclophosphamide), incorporates avacopan and lower-dose or glucocorticoid-sparing regimens — the management framework for drug- and checkpoint-inhibitor-associated ANCA/pauci-immune glomerulonephritis.Kidney Int · PMID 38388147
  • KDIGO (2024) — Executive summary of the KDIGO 2024 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Lupus NephritisUpdates first-line lupus nephritis therapy to combination immunosuppression with the addition of belimumab or a calcineurin inhibitor (voclosporin) — informs management of immune-complex/lupus-like glomerulonephritis encountered with immunotherapy.Kidney Int · PMID 38182299
  • KDIGO (2025) — Executive summary of the KDIGO 2025 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Immunoglobulin A Nephropathy (IgAN) and Immunoglobulin A Vasculitis (IgAV)Encourages liberal kidney biopsy and stricter proteinuria control (<0.5 g/d, ideally <0.3 g/d) with RAAS blockers, SGLT2 inhibitors, and targeted-release budesonide — the framework for IgA-dominant glomerular lesions, including those triggered by immune-modulating cancer therapy.Kidney Int · PMID 40975525

References

5 peer-reviewed references. Citation metadata via PubMed / NLM.

  1. 1.Rhabdomyolysis induced by darolutamide and rosuvastatin.Lee EH, Gogolin NE, Charpentier MM · J Oncol Pharm Pract · 2025 · PMID 40620104
  2. 2.Adverse events related to darolutamide treatment: analysis of "real life" data from EudraVigilance and the Food and Drug Administration database entries.Tema G, Lombardo R, Cicione A, et al · Minerva Urol Nephrol · 2023 · PMID 37410030
  3. 3.Clinical Pharmacokinetics of the Androgen Receptor Inhibitor Darolutamide in Healthy Subjects and Patients with Hepatic or Renal Impairment.Zurth C et al. · Clin Pharmacokinet · 2021 · PMID 34866168
  4. 4.Clinical Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of the Next Generation Androgen Receptor Inhibitor-Darolutamide.Podgorsek E et al. · Clin Pharmacokinet · 2023 · PMID 37458966
  5. 5.Darolutamide in Nonmetastatic, Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer.Fizazi K et al. · N Engl J Med · 2019 · PMID 30763142
Educational monograph from NephTox (nephtox.com). Not medical advice — verify against current guidelines before any clinical decision.