Skip to content
Back to full profile

Anti-SLAMF7 mAb

Elotuzumab

Empliciti · Elotuz

Anti-SLAMF7 mAb · approved 2015 · 3 references

A SLAMF7 antibody that is reassuringly kidney-neutral — usable across severe impairment and dialysis without adjustment.

Signature injury
Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI
Severity
Mild
Reversibility
Reversible
Onset
Not applicable for direct renal injury; infusion reactions occur during/shortly after the first infusions.

Signature kidney injury & incidence

Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI.

Elotuzumab itself has no characteristic direct nephrotoxicity. A dedicated phase Ib study in myeloma patients with normal renal function, severe renal impairment (CrCl < 30 mL/min, not on dialysis), and end-stage renal disease on dialysis found comparable elotuzumab pharmacokinetics across all groups, with grade 3-4 adverse events of similar frequency and no need for dose adjustment. The relevant renal context is the underlying myeloma kidney disease the regimen treats, plus the partner-drug toxicities (lenalidomide is renally cleared).

Source: Berdeja et al., Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk 2015 (phase Ib renal-impairment study)

Reported injury signatures: Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI.

Onset timing & rechallenge

Hyperacute (<24 h) — No direct renal injury; infusion reactions occur during or shortly after the first infusions.

Mechanism of kidney injury

As a large IgG1 antibody, elotuzumab is cleared by reticuloendothelial proteolysis, not renal filtration, and does not concentrate in or injure the nephron; its serum exposure is unchanged in severe renal impairment and dialysis. It carries no intrinsic tubular, glomerular, or crystal toxicity. Electrolyte or renal abnormalities seen during therapy are attributable to the underlying plasma-cell disorder (light-chain cast nephropathy, hypercalcemia), to the renally-cleared immunomodulatory partner (lenalidomide), or to infusion reactions — not to elotuzumab. The only elotuzumab-attributable renal risk is therefore indirect and prerenal: a transient, hemodynamic effect if a severe infusion reaction drops blood pressure, which is why it sits — like the anti-CD38 myeloma antibodies (daratumumab, isatuximab) — in the prerenal/kidney-neutral category rather than carrying any direct nephrotoxic lesion. It deepens disease control that can itself improve myeloma-related renal function.

Clinical presentation

No drug-specific renal syndrome. Infusion reactions are the main acute toxicity (largely grade 1-2, mitigated by premedication). Any creatinine rise or electrolyte disturbance should be traced to myeloma activity, the partner immunomodulator, or intercurrent causes rather than to elotuzumab.

Management

No elotuzumab-specific renal dose change is required, including in dialysis. Manage infusion reactions per protocol; address renal events through the underlying myeloma and the renally-cleared partner agents.

Risk factors

  • Underlying myeloma cast nephropathy / hypercalcemia (disease-related)
  • Concurrent lenalidomide in renal impairment (partner-drug accumulation)
  • Pre-existing CKD

Prevention

  • Standard infusion-reaction premedication
  • Dose-adjust the renally-cleared partner (lenalidomide) for GFR
  • Treat myeloma-related renal disease (hydration, anti-myeloma therapy, hypercalcemia management)

Renal dose adjustment

No dose adjustment for any degree of renal impairment, including severe impairment and end-stage renal disease on dialysis (Berdeja 2015). The actionable renal adjustment is to the partner immunomodulator, not to elotuzumab.

Dialyzability & ESKD dosing

A ~150 kDa IgG1 antibody — not removed by hemodialysis and cleared by proteolysis; pharmacokinetics are unchanged in dialysis patients, so no peri-dialysis timing change is needed.

Differential diagnosis

A creatinine rise on an elotuzumab regimen is far more likely myeloma cast nephropathy, hypercalcemia, or lenalidomide effect than antibody toxicity; serum free light chains, calcium, and urinalysis help distinguish disease relapse from drug effect.

Monitoring

  • Serum creatinine/eGFR (largely to guide the renally-cleared partner drug)
  • Serum calcium and free light chains (disease activity)
  • Infusion-reaction monitoring during administration

Key trials & series

  • ELOQUENT-2 (Lonial NEJM 2015) pivotal phase III with lenalidomide/dexamethasone
  • Berdeja Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk 2015 phase Ib renal-impairment/ESKD PK study

Clinical pearls

  • When the kidney function worsens on an elotuzumab regimen, suspect the myeloma or the lenalidomide, not the antibody.
  • Infusion reactions, not nephrotoxicity, are the toxicity to premedicate for.

Anticancer mechanism

Humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody targeting SLAMF7 (CS1), expressed on myeloma cells and NK cells. It kills myeloma cells through antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and direct NK-cell activation. Given with lenalidomide/dexamethasone or pomalidomide/dexamethasone for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Note

Among myeloma antibodies, elotuzumab is notably kidney-neutral: a dedicated study supports use without dose adjustment across severe impairment and ESKD. Renal vigilance should focus on the disease and on lenalidomide rather than on this antibody.

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

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

  1. 1.Pharmacokinetics and Safety of Elotuzumab Combined With Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone in Patients With Multiple Myeloma and Various Levels of Renal Impairment: Results of a Phase Ib Study.Berdeja J et al. · Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk · 2015 · PMID 26795075
  2. 2.Elotuzumab Therapy for Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma.Lonial S et al. · N Engl J Med · 2015 · PMID 26035255
  3. 3.Acute Kidney Injury in Patients with Cancer.Rosner MH et al. · N Engl J Med · 2017 · PMID 28467867

Case reports & series (1)

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.

  1. C1.[C · Limited]A case of tumor lysis syndrome and acute renal failure associated with elotuzumab treatment in multiple myeloma.Atchison DK et al. · Clin Nephrol Case Stud · 2017 · PMID 29318105
Educational monograph from NephTox (nephtox.com). Not medical advice — verify against current guidelines before any clinical decision.