Androgen-receptor inhibitor
Enzalutamide
Xtandi · Enza
Androgen-receptor inhibitor · approved 2012 · 7 references
Androgen-receptor blockade with a real hypertension signal but minimal direct nephrotoxicity.
- Signature injury
- Hypertension
- Severity
- Mild
- Reversibility
- Reversible
- Onset
- Hypertension emerges over weeks to months of therapy.
Signature kidney injury & incidence
Hypertension — representative incidence ~11.9%.
Hypertension is the dominant renovascular signal. A 2024 JAMA Oncology meta-analysis of androgen-receptor signaling inhibitors found a markedly increased risk of grade ≥3 hypertension (relative risk ~2.25); an earlier meta-analysis showed the same for enzalutamide specifically. Direct intrinsic kidney injury is uncommon; rare hyponatremia appears mainly in combination regimens. Reported rate: hypertension in 11.9% — Pooled analysis of 7 randomized clinical trials of enzalutamide in prostate cancer, 7347 patients (Zhu 2019, PMID 31557062).
Source: Zhu et al., Cancer Invest 2019
Reported injury signatures: Hypertension, Electrolyte Disturbance.
Renal toxicity profile
- HypertensionPrimaryOne of the two most common clinically relevant adverse events (PREVAIL)
- Electrolyte DisturbanceRare
Onset timing & rechallenge
Subacute (~1–6 weeks) — Hypertension emerges over weeks to months of therapy.
Mechanism of kidney injury
Clinical presentation
Management
Risk factors
- Baseline hypertension
- Established cardiovascular disease
- Older age
- Concurrent ADT and/or combination regimens
Prevention
- Optimize antihypertensive therapy proactively
Renal dose adjustment
Dialyzability & ESKD dosing
Differential diagnosis
Monitoring
- Blood pressure at each visit and at home early in therapy
- Serum sodium if combination therapy or symptoms
- Cardiovascular risk reassessment periodically
Key trials & series
- PREVAIL and AFFIRM (mCRPC)
- PROSPER (nmCRPC)
- ARCHES / ENZAMET (castration-sensitive)
- El-Taji JAMA Oncol 2024 ARSI cardiovascular meta-analysis
Clinical pearls
- Treat the blood pressure, don't stop the drug — enzalutamide hypertension is manageable with standard agents.
- No mineralocorticoid syndrome: enzalutamide lacks abiraterone's hypokalemia/alkalosis because it does not shunt steroidogenesis.
- It is a potent CYP3A4 inducer — re-check levels of narrow-therapeutic-index co-meds.
- An unexplained creatinine rise is rarely the drug itself; look elsewhere.
Anticancer mechanism
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
7 peer-reviewed references. Citation metadata via PubMed / NLM.
- 1.Increased Risk of Hypertension with Enzalutamide in Prostate Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.Zhu X et al. · Cancer Invest · 2019 · PMID 31557062
- 2.Cardiovascular Events and Androgen Receptor Signaling Inhibitors in Advanced Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.El-Taji O et al. · JAMA Oncol · 2024 · PMID 38842801
- 3.The Cardiovascular Toxicity of Abiraterone and Enzalutamide in Prostate Cancer.Iacovelli R et al. · Clin Genitourin Cancer · 2017 · PMID 29339044
- 4.Enzalutamide in metastatic prostate cancer before chemotherapy.Beer TM et al. · N Engl J Med · 2014 · PMID 24881730
- 5.Enzalutamide in Men with Chemotherapy-naive Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer: Extended Analysis of the Phase 3 PREVAIL Study.Beer TM et al. · Eur Urol · 2016 · PMID 27477525
- 6.Phase 1 trial of enzalutamide in combination with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.Mahipal A et al. · Invest New Drugs · 2018 · PMID 30298303
- 7.Conventional Chemotherapy Nephrotoxicity.Gupta S et al. · Adv Chronic Kidney Dis · 2021 · PMID 35190107
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]Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome induced by enzalutamide in a patient with castration-resistant prostate cancer.Crona DJ et al. · Invest New Drugs · 2015 · PMID 25467090
- C2.[C · Limited]A case report of enzalutamide administration in a dialysis-dependent patient with castration-resistant prostate cancer.Tsang ES et al. · J Oncol Pharm Pract · 2018 · PMID 28147927