IDH2 inhibitor
Enasidenib
Idhifa · Enasi
IDH2 inhibitor · approved 2017 · 8 references
An IDH2 inhibitor that cures by forcing leukemic blasts to mature — and that maturation itself can flood the kidneys.
- Signature injury
- Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI
- Severity
- Moderate
- Reversibility
- Reversible
- Onset
- Differentiation syndrome typically days to weeks after starting (median onset ~30 days; reported range days to ~4–5 months).
Signature kidney injury & incidence
Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI — representative incidence ~10%.
IDH-inhibitor differentiation syndrome (the main route to AKI) occurs in roughly 10% of enasidenib-treated AML patients (10.4% any-grade in a pooled trial analysis; ~7% grade ≥3 in the first-in-human study). Tumor lysis is a secondary risk. Direct tubular nephrotoxicity is not well quantified.
Source: Montesinos et al., Blood Adv 2024 (10.4% any-grade)
Reported injury signatures: Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI, Acute Tubular Necrosis, Electrolyte Disturbance.
Renal toxicity profile
- Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKIPrimaryIDH2-inhibitor differentiation syndrome (fluid retention, capillary leak -> prerenal/hemodynamic AKI) occurred as a grade 3-4 enasidenib-related event in 7% of relapsed/refractory AML patients.
- Acute Tubular NecrosisSecondary
- Electrolyte DisturbanceSecondary
Onset timing & rechallenge
Subacute (~1–6 weeks) — Differentiation syndrome typically appears days to weeks after starting, with a median onset around 30 days and a reported range from days to roughly 4-5 months.
Mechanism of kidney injury
Clinical presentation
Management
Risk factors
- High bone-marrow or peripheral blast burden
- Hyperleukocytosis
- Elevated LDH
- Rapid leukemic response
- Volume depletion
Prevention
- Vigilance for early differentiation-syndrome symptoms
- Prompt corticosteroids at first suspicion
- Cytoreduction (e.g., hydroxyurea) for hyperleukocytosis
- TLS prophylaxis with hydration and urate-lowering therapy
Renal dose adjustment
Dialyzability & ESKD dosing
Differential diagnosis
Monitoring
- Daily symptom/weight/oxygenation assessment for differentiation syndrome during the first 1–2 months
- CBC with differential (track blast maturation and rising WBC)
- Tumor-lysis labs (uric acid, potassium, phosphate, calcium, creatinine) during early response
- Total/indirect bilirubin (UGT1A1 inhibition mimics hyperbilirubinemia)
Key trials & series
- Stein et al., Blood 2017 — first-in-human AG221-C-001 phase 1/2 (registrational R/R AML data, 40.3% ORR, 7% grade ≥3 differentiation syndrome)
- Montesinos et al., Blood Adv 2024 — pooled 4-trial analysis defining 10.4% differentiation-syndrome incidence
Clinical pearls
- Differentiation syndrome — not direct nephrotoxicity — is the reason enasidenib threatens the kidney; treat early with steroids and do not necessarily stop the drug.
- Indirect hyperbilirubinemia from UGT1A1 inhibition is expected and benign; do not confuse it with hepatorenal or hemolytic processes.
- A rising WBC during therapy reflects intended blast maturation, not relapse — but it heralds differentiation-syndrome and tumor-lysis risk.
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.Enasidenib in mutant IDH2 relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia.Stein EM et al. · Blood · 2017 · PMID 28588020
- 2.Differentiation syndrome associated with treatment with IDH2 inhibitor enasidenib: pooled analysis from clinical trials.Montesinos P et al. · Blood Adv · 2024 · PMID 38507688
- 3.How I treat acute myeloid leukemia with differentiation therapy.Issa GC et al. · Blood · 2025 · PMID 38976876
- 4.Differentiation syndrome with lower-intensity treatments for acute myeloid leukemia.Fathi AT et al. · Am J Hematol · 2021 · PMID 33625753
- 5.Enasidenib: First Mutant IDH2 Inhibitor for the Treatment of Refractory and Relapsed Acute Myeloid Leukemia.Dogra R et al. · Anticancer Agents Med Chem · 2018 · PMID 30360730
- 6.Differentiation Syndrome in Acute Leukemia: APL and Beyond.Woods AC et al. · Cancers (Basel) · 2023 · PMID 37835461
- 7.Efficacy and tolerability of isocitrate dehydrogenase inhibitors in patients with acute myeloid leukemia: A systematic review of clinical trials.Aiman W et al. · Leuk Res · 2023 · PMID 37100025
- 8.Acute Kidney Injury Associated with Anticancer Therapies: Small Molecules and Targeted Therapies.Kala J et al. · Kidney360 · 2024 · PMID 39186376