Taxane
Docetaxel
Taxotere · DTX
Taxane · approved 1996 · 8 references
A taxane whose hallmark fluid retention rarely translates into true kidney injury.
- Signature injury
- Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI
- Severity
- Mild
- Reversibility
- Reversible
- Onset
- Fluid retention develops cumulatively (often after several cycles / cumulative dose); hypersensitivity reactions occur during infusion.
Signature kidney injury & incidence
Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI.
Docetaxel has low direct renal toxicity. Its characteristic fluid-retention syndrome (peripheral edema, effusions, weight gain) reflects increased capillary permeability rather than tubular injury; AKI directly attributable to docetaxel is uncommon and not well quantified, and the drug has been used successfully even in kidney-transplant recipients.
Source: García-Carro et al., Nephron 2022
Reported injury signatures: Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI, Hemorrhagic Cystitis, Thrombotic Microangiopathy.
Renal toxicity profile
- Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKIPrimary
- Hemorrhagic CystitisRareCase-level reports, including monotherapy and oxazaphosphorine-free regimens; mechanism unknown.
- Thrombotic MicroangiopathyRareCase-level TTP/HUS-type TMA, including monotherapy.
Onset timing & rechallenge
Delayed (>6 weeks / cumulative) — Fluid retention builds up cumulatively after several cycles/cumulative dose, while hypersensitivity reactions happen during infusion.
Mechanism of kidney injury
Clinical presentation
Management
Risk factors
- Omission or inadequate corticosteroid premedication (worsens fluid retention)
- Cardiac or volume-overload comorbidity
- Higher cumulative docetaxel dose
- Concurrent nephrotoxins and volume depletion
Prevention
- Corticosteroid premedication (e.g. dexamethasone starting the day before) to limit fluid retention and hypersensitivity
Renal dose adjustment
Dialyzability & ESKD dosing
Differential diagnosis
Monitoring
- Weight and clinical edema/effusions each cycle
- LFTs/bilirubin before dosing (drives dose adjustment)
- CBC for neutropenia; creatinine if volume status changes
Key trials & series
- Nagahisa Transplant Proc 2024 case of safe docetaxel use after kidney transplantation
Clinical pearls
- Steroid premedication is what keeps docetaxel fluid retention in check - skipping it worsens edema.
- Fluid retention reflects capillary permeability, not kidney injury; creatinine usually stays normal.
- Docetaxel can be given in transplant/dialysis patients because it is non-renally cleared.
- Hemorrhagic cystitis is reported at case level with docetaxel, including monotherapy and oxazaphosphorine-free TCHP where it resolved after a swap to paclitaxel; mechanism unknown.
- TTP/HUS-type thrombotic microangiopathy is reported at case level with docetaxel, including monotherapy with onset days after the first cycle.
Anticancer mechanism
Note
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
8 peer-reviewed references. Citation metadata via PubMed / NLM.
- 1.Onconephrology: Update in Anticancer Drug-Related Nephrotoxicity.García-Carro C et al. · Nephron · 2022 · PMID 35717937
- 2.Safety of Docetaxel in a Patient with Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer After Kidney Transplantation: A Case Report.Nagahisa C et al. · Transplant Proc · 2024 · PMID 38548511
- 3.Re-visiting Hypersensitivity Reactions to Taxanes: A Comprehensive Review.Picard M et al. · Clin Rev Allergy Immunol · 2015 · PMID 24740483
- 4.Onconephrology: The intersections between the kidney and cancer.Rosner MH et al. · CA Cancer J Clin · 2020 · PMID 32853404
- 5.Hemorrhagic cystitis in a patient receiving docetaxel for prostate cancer.Ntekim AI et al. · Clin Med Insights Oncol · 2010 · PMID 20567631
- 6.Unraveling the Crimson puzzle: Two case reports/case series of hemorrhagic cystitis after combination chemotherapy with docetaxel, carboplatin, trastuzumab and pertuzumab in breast cancer.Ramirez JC et al. · Medicine (Baltimore) · 2025 · PMID 40153764
- 7.Docetaxel-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura/hemolytic uremic syndrome-related complex in a patient with metastatic prostate cancer?Shrestha A et al. · Am J Ther · 2011 · PMID 20592666
- 8.Thrombotic microangiopathy following docetaxel and trastuzumab chemotherapy: a case report.Siau K et al. · Med Oncol · 2010 · PMID 19847680
Case reports & series (2)
The weakest rung of clinical evidence — single-patient and small-series reports, strongest first. Each carries a heuristic strength grade (A Strong / B Moderate / C Limited) inferred from its abstract and journal, not a formal appraisal. Weigh well below the primary references above.
- C1.[C · Limited]New-onset systemic sclerosis and scleroderma renal crisis under docetaxel.Debien V et al. · J Scleroderma Relat Disord · 2021 · PMID 35387214
- C2.[C · Limited]Tumor lysis syndrome associated with docetaxel and carboplatin in a case with recurrent endometrial cancer.Ito T et al. · Gynecol Oncol Rep · 2018 · PMID 29845102