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Hedgehog (SMO) inhibitor

Glasdegib

Daurismo · GLA

Hedgehog (SMO) inhibitor · approved 2018 · 6 references

Hedgehog/SMO inhibitor for AML whose QT prolongation and muscle spasms are the safety signals; renal risk is indirect via dehydration and leukemia-related tumor lysis.

Signature injury
Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI
Severity
Mild
Reversibility
Reversible
Onset
Muscle spasms and QT changes within early cycles; prerenal/electrolyte issues track intercurrent illness and intake.

Signature kidney injury & incidence

Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI.

Muscle spasms, QT prolongation, cytopenias, edema, nausea and mucositis are the labeled toxicities; the FDA notes a use limitation in severe renal impairment (a renal-impairment trial was a post-marketing requirement). Direct nephrotoxicity is not a defined signal, and AKI is largely secondary (dehydration, sepsis, tumor lysis).

Source: Norsworthy et al., Clin Cancer Res 2019 (FDA approval summary, BRIGHT AML 1003)

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

Renal toxicity profile

  1. Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKIPrimary
  2. Electrolyte DisturbanceSecondary

Onset timing & rechallenge

Variable / unpredictable — Muscle spasms and QT changes appear in early cycles, while prerenal/electrolyte issues track intercurrent illness and intake.

Mechanism of kidney injury

Glasdegib itself has no characteristic direct renal lesion. Its renal relevance is twofold and indirect: (1) gastrointestinal toxicity (nausea, mucositis) and the underlying AML reduce intake and cause volume depletion and prerenal azotemia; (2) QT prolongation is exacerbated by electrolyte derangements (hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia) that demand renal-relevant correction. In the leukemic context, treatment-related tumor lysis can cause uric-acid/phosphate crystal nephropathy and ATN, though glasdegib's cytoreduction is modest. There is a labeling caution in severe renal impairment pending dedicated data.

Clinical presentation

Muscle cramps, fatigue, edema, nausea/mucositis and cytopenias; ECG QTc prolongation. Renally, a prerenal creatinine rise during poor intake/dehydration, and electrolyte disturbances (hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia) that aggravate QT. Tumor-lysis labs (hyperuricemia, hyperphosphatemia, hyperkalemia) if cytoreduction is brisk.

Management

Keep potassium and magnesium replete and monitor QTc; hold/adjust for significant QT prolongation. Treat prerenal AKI with volume repletion and source control of nausea/sepsis. Manage tumor lysis with hydration, urate-lowering therapy and electrolyte correction, escalating to renal replacement if needed. Use caution and monitor closely in severe renal impairment given limited data.

Risk factors

  • Older, comorbid AML population with baseline CKD
  • Concurrent QT-prolonging drugs and electrolyte depletion
  • Dehydration from nausea/mucositis or sepsis
  • High tumor burden at initiation (tumor-lysis risk)

Prevention

  • Correct potassium and magnesium and obtain baseline/serial ECGs
  • Maintain hydration; manage nausea/mucositis proactively
  • TLS prophylaxis (hydration +/- allopurinol/rasburicase) when tumor burden warrants
  • Avoid additive QT-prolonging and nephrotoxic agents; caution in severe renal impairment

Renal dose adjustment

No dose adjustment recommended for mild-moderate renal impairment; safety/PK in severe renal impairment were not established at approval (labeled limitation; post-marketing study required). Hepatic CYP3A4 metabolism predominates.

Dialyzability & ESKD dosing

Highly protein-bound small molecule; not expected to be appreciably dialyzable, and ESKD dosing is not established.

Differential diagnosis

Distinguish prerenal AKI (volume-responsive) from tumor-lysis crystalline nephropathy (hyperuricemia/hyperphosphatemia, often early), sepsis-associated ATN, and electrolyte-driven QT effects. The leukemic context makes multifactorial AKI the rule.

Monitoring

  • ECG/QTc at baseline, ~1 week, then periodically
  • Serum potassium and magnesium frequently (correct before/during therapy)
  • Serum creatinine and TLS labs (uric acid, phosphate, potassium) early in treatment
  • CBC each cycle; volume status

Key trials & series

  • BRIGHT AML 1003 (Cortes, J Hematol Oncol 2020; Norsworthy FDA summary, Clin Cancer Res 2019) — registrational glasdegib + LDAC dataset

Clinical pearls

  • Glasdegib's renal story is indirect — QT/electrolytes and dehydration in a frail AML population, not a primary nephropathy.
  • Magnesium and potassium repletion does double duty: it protects the kidney's milieu and the QT interval.
  • Heed the labeled caution in severe renal impairment — dedicated data were lacking at approval.
  • Assess tumor-lysis risk at initiation even though glasdegib's cytoreduction is modest.

Anticancer mechanism

Oral Smoothened (SMO) inhibitor that blocks Hedgehog signaling implicated in leukemic stem-cell maintenance. Combined with low-dose cytarabine (LDAC) it improves survival in newly diagnosed AML patients unfit for intensive chemotherapy.

Note

The renal link is indirect — QT-relevant electrolyte derangements, dehydration, and leukemia/treatment-related tumor lysis rather than a direct renal lesion. The FDA labeled a limitation of use in severe renal impairment pending further study.

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

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

  1. 1.FDA Approval Summary: Glasdegib for Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia.Norsworthy KJ et al. · Clin Cancer Res · 2019 · PMID 31064779
  2. 2.Survival outcomes and clinical benefit in patients with acute myeloid leukemia treated with glasdegib and low-dose cytarabine according to response to therapy.Cortes JE et al. · J Hematol Oncol · 2020 · PMID 32664995
  3. 3.Glasdegib in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.Wolska-Washer A et al. · Future Oncol · 2019 · PMID 31432695
  4. 4.Efficacy and Safety of Sonic Hedgehog Inhibitors in Basal Cell Carcinomas: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (2009-2022).Nguyen A et al. · Am J Clin Dermatol · 2023 · PMID 36795228
  5. 5.Prevention and Treatment of Tumor Lysis Syndrome in the Era of Onco-Nephrology Progress.Matuszkiewicz-Rowinska J et al. · Kidney Blood Press Res · 2020 · PMID 32998135
  6. 6.Recommendations for the evaluation of risk and prophylaxis of tumour lysis syndrome (TLS) in adults and children with malignant diseases: an expert TLS panel consensus.Cairo MS et al. · Br J Haematol · 2010 · PMID 20331465
Educational monograph from NephTox (nephtox.com). Not medical advice — verify against current guidelines before any clinical decision.