Skip to content
Back to full profile

BTK inhibitor

Ibrutinib

Imbruvica · Ibrut

BTK inhibitor · approved 2013 · 8 references

A first-generation BTK inhibitor whose off-target kinase inhibition drives hypertension — and occasionally proteinuria, AIN or AKI.

Signature injury
Hypertension
Severity
Moderate
Reversibility
Variable
Onset
Hypertension develops over weeks–months (can be early); tumor lysis is early (first cycle); glomerular/interstitial lesions are case-level over weeks to months.

Signature kidney injury & incidence

Hypertension — representative incidence ~26%.

New or worsened hypertension is common (~26% in a real-world CLL cohort comparing it with acalabrutinib; higher with longer follow-up). AKI at CLL presentation and with tumor lysis is well described. Drug-attributable AKI from interstitial nephritis or glomerular endotheliosis is case-level.

Source: Majrashi et al., Pharmacol Res Perspect 2025 (HTN 26.3%)

Reported injury signatures: Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI, Hypertension, Glomerular Injury / Proteinuria, Acute Tubular Necrosis, Acute Interstitial Nephritis.

Renal toxicity profile

  1. HypertensionPrimary~25.3%Any-grade hypertension in 25.3% of ibrutinib-treated relapsed/refractory CLL/SLL patients (ALPINE, n=325); dedicated cardio-oncology cohorts report new or worsening BP even more often (e.g. a >10 mmHg systolic rise in ~37% by 1 month).
  2. Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKISecondary
  3. Glomerular Injury / ProteinuriaSecondary
  4. Acute Tubular NecrosisSecondary
  5. Acute Interstitial NephritisSecondary

Onset timing & rechallenge

Variable / unpredictable — Hypertension over weeks to months; tumor lysis early (first cycle); glomerular/interstitial lesions case-level over weeks to months.

Mechanism of kidney injury

Beyond BTK, ibrutinib's off-target kinase inhibition (including effects on endothelial nitric-oxide/VEGF signaling) produces hypertension and, in case reports, pre-eclampsia–like glomerular endothelial injury (glomerular endotheliosis) with proteinuria. A cysteine-conjugate (extrahepatic) metabolite can bioactivate in proximal tubular cells, and acute interstitial nephritis has been reported. Rapid CLL/lymphoma cytoreduction can cause tumor lysis, and volume depletion adds prerenal/hemodynamic AKI.

Clinical presentation

Rising blood pressure (often early and substantial), sometimes proteinuria, and acute-on-chronic kidney injury; occasional biopsy-proven glomerular endotheliosis or acute interstitial nephritis. Tumor-lysis labs (hyperuricemia/hyperkalemia/hyperphosphatemia) when bulky disease lyses. Atrial fibrillation and bleeding are the other hallmark off-target toxicities.

Management

Treat hypertension (no single antihypertensive class is clearly superior for BTKi-induced hypertension; control is the goal). Manage tumor lysis with hydration and rasburicase/allopurinol. Investigate unexplained AKI/proteinuria (including biopsy for suspected AIN or glomerular endotheliosis); dose-modify or hold for severe events.

Risk factors

  • Bulky/high-burden CLL or lymphoma
  • Pre-existing hypertension or CKD
  • Volume depletion
  • Concurrent nephrotoxins
  • Black ancestry and prior arrhythmia (for BTKi hypertension)

Prevention

  • Prompt antihypertensive control when blood pressure rises on therapy
  • TLS risk assessment with hydration and urate-lowering therapy

Renal dose adjustment

No dose adjustment for mild-to-moderate renal impairment (CrCl ≥30 mL/min); severe impairment (CrCl <30) and dialysis are not well studied — use with caution. Ibrutinib is hepatically (CYP3A) cleared, so hepatic impairment, not renal, drives dose reduction; <10% renal excretion of metabolites.

Dialyzability & ESKD dosing

Not meaningfully dialyzable — highly protein-bound (~97%) small molecule with hepatic clearance. No supplemental dosing after HD is needed.

Differential diagnosis

Separate ibrutinib-attributable AKI from CLL-related kidney disease (infiltration, MPGN, cryoglobulinemia), tumor lysis (urate/phosphate profile), prerenal azotemia, drug-induced AIN (sterile pyuria, white-cell casts, biopsy), and glomerular endotheliosis (proteinuria, biopsy). Hypertension is the most consistent and reproducible renal-relevant signal.

Monitoring

  • Blood pressure at each visit (and home monitoring) — hypertension is the signature renal-relevant toxicity
  • Serum creatinine and urine protein periodically
  • Tumor-lysis labs during early cytoreduction in bulky disease
  • ECG/clinical assessment for atrial fibrillation (off-target effect)

Key trials & series

  • Burger et al., NEJM 2015 — RESONATE-2 first-line CLL registrational trial
  • Majrashi et al., Pharmacol Res Perspect 2025 — real-world federated network: hypertension 26.3% (ibrutinib) vs 15% (acalabrutinib)
  • Chen et al., J Hematol Oncol 2022 — BTKi hypertension cohort showing HTN precedes major cardiac events

Clinical pearls

  • Hypertension is the most reliable ibrutinib renal-system toxicity, is often early, and predicts later cardiovascular events — control it.
  • Unexplained proteinuria/AKI on ibrutinib should prompt consideration of glomerular endotheliosis or acute interstitial nephritis, sometimes warranting biopsy.
  • Always exclude CLL-intrinsic kidney disease and tumor lysis before blaming the drug.

Anticancer mechanism

Irreversible covalent Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor that binds cysteine-481, shutting down B-cell receptor signaling and NF-κB–driven survival in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), mantle-cell lymphoma and Waldenström macroglobulinemia. Its off-target inhibition of other kinases (including TEC, ITK, EGFR and effects on endothelial/VEGF signaling) underlies several toxicities.

Note

CLL itself causes kidney disease (leukemic infiltration, MPGN, cryoglobulinemia, light-chain effects), so attributing AKI to ibrutinib requires excluding disease-related and tumor-lysis causes. Hypertension precedes and predicts major adverse cardiac events, making BP control clinically important beyond the kidney.

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. 1.Ibrutinib as Initial Therapy for Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.Burger JA et al. · N Engl J Med · 2015 · PMID 26639149
  2. 2.A Comparative Analysis of Cardiovascular Events Associated With Acalabrutinib Versus Ibrutinib in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Insights From a Global Federated Network.Majrashi A et al. · Pharmacol Res Perspect · 2025 · PMID 40341807
  3. 3.Hypertension and incident cardiovascular events after next-generation BTKi therapy initiation.Chen ST et al. · J Hematol Oncol · 2022 · PMID 35836241
  4. 4.Extrahepatic metabolism of ibrutinib.Rood JJM et al. · Invest New Drugs · 2020 · PMID 32623551
  5. 5.A case report of pre-eclampsia-like endothelial injury in the kidney of an 85-year-old man treated with ibrutinib.Li A et al. · BMC Nephrol · 2022 · PMID 35870899
  6. 6.Ibrutinib-induced acute kidney injury via interstitial nephritis.Markóth C et al. · Ren Fail · 2021 · PMID 33567947
  7. 7.Hypertension and Prohypertensive Antineoplastic Therapies in Cancer Patients.van Dorst DCH et al. · Circ Res · 2021 · PMID 33793337
  8. 8.Renal involvement in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.Wanchoo R et al. · Clin Kidney J · 2018 · PMID 30288263

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]Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors and the kidney: Focus on ibrutinib.Brener ZZ et al. · J Oncol Pharm Pract · 2020 · PMID 32054411
Educational monograph from NephTox (nephtox.com). Not medical advice — verify against current guidelines before any clinical decision.