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Proteasome inhibitor

Ixazomib

Ninlaro · IXA

Proteasome inhibitor · approved 2015 · 6 references

The first oral proteasome inhibitor, with rare reports of drug-induced thrombotic microangiopathy.

Signature injury
Thrombotic Microangiopathy
Severity
Moderate
Reversibility
Partially reversible
Onset
Variable; reported after weeks to months of therapy, including with cumulative exposure. Class median time to TMA onset ~8 days from a triggering cycle.

Signature kidney injury & incidence

Thrombotic Microangiopathy.

Drug-induced thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is a rare, case-level event for ixazomib and is not reliably quantified. In a pharmacovigilance analysis of the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS, 2004-2023), proteasome inhibitors as a class were significantly associated with TMA (225 cases in 213 exposed individuals; ROR 1.71), but carfilzomib dominated the signal (58.7% of exposed individuals, 125 of 213; ROR 17.97), with bortezomib and ixazomib contributing far fewer reports. The ixazomib signal is therefore extrapolated largely from the class.

Source: Deng et al., Support Care Cancer 2025 (FAERS pharmacovigilance)

Reported injury signatures: Thrombotic Microangiopathy.

Onset timing & rechallenge

Variable / unpredictable — Reported after weeks to months, including with cumulative exposure; class median time to TMA onset ~8 days from a triggering cycle.

Mechanism of kidney injury

Proteasome inhibition injures glomerular and microvascular endothelium, reducing endothelial production of protective factors (including VEGF and complement-regulatory proteins) and provoking platelet aggregation, microthrombi, and mechanical (microangiopathic) hemolysis. In the pooled PI-TMA literature, the median time to onset was about 8 days and most patients presented with the classic triad of hemolytic anemia (98%), thrombocytopenia (97%), and AKI (97%). Ixazomib TMA has been reported both as cumulative dose-dependent toxicity and via an immune-mediated mechanism; complement activation has been implicated, mirroring carfilzomib cases that responded to eculizumab.

Clinical presentation

Microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (schistocytes on smear, elevated LDH, undetectable haptoglobin, negative direct Coombs), thrombocytopenia, and AKI with rising creatinine, often with new or worsening hypertension. Gastrointestinal symptoms, fever, and fatigue frequently precede the laboratory triad.

Management

Discontinue ixazomib promptly when TMA is suspected; provide supportive care, transfusion as needed, and AKI management including dialysis when indicated (used in ~32% of pooled PI-TMA cases). TMA often improves after drug withdrawal (hematologic recovery ~96%, renal recovery ~93% in the pooled series). Plasma exchange has uncertain benefit in drug-induced TMA and is reserved for diagnostic uncertainty (suspected TTP); complement blockade with eculizumab has stabilized renal function in refractory proteasome-inhibitor TMA and can be considered.

Risk factors

  • Prior or concurrent proteasome inhibitor exposure (especially carfilzomib)
  • Cumulative drug exposure
  • Underlying multiple myeloma with paraprotein burden
  • Pre-existing endothelial/renal compromise

Renal dose adjustment

No starting-dose change for mild renal impairment (CrCl >=30). For severe renal impairment (CrCl <30) or ESRD requiring dialysis, reduce the ixazomib dose from 4 mg to 3 mg. Hepatic impairment also requires reduction.

Dialyzability & ESKD dosing

Ixazomib is not meaningfully dialyzable (highly protein-bound, large volume of distribution); it may be given without regard to dialysis timing. Use the reduced 3 mg dose in dialysis-dependent patients.

Differential diagnosis

Distinguish drug-induced TMA from myeloma-related causes of AKI (cast nephropathy, hypercalcemia, paraprotein-associated TMA) and from TTP (check ADAMTS13) and atypical HUS (complement). The temporal link to PI dosing, normal ADAMTS13, and improvement on drug withdrawal favor PI-TMA.

Monitoring

  • CBC with smear review each cycle (platelets, schistocytes)
  • LDH and haptoglobin if cytopenias develop
  • ADAMTS13 activity when the TMA triad appears, to exclude TTP
  • Blood pressure at each visit
  • Serum creatinine each cycle

Key trials & series

  • TOURMALINE-MM1 (phase 3 ixazomib-Rd vs placebo-Rd in relapsed/refractory myeloma)
  • FAERS proteasome-inhibitor TMA pharmacovigilance analysis (Deng et al. 2025)

Clinical pearls

  • Carfilzomib carries by far the largest proteasome-inhibitor TMA signal; ixazomib reports are rare and the risk is largely class-extrapolated.
  • Look for the MAHA triad: schistocytes, undetectable haptoglobin, and thrombocytopenia with AKI.
  • Eculizumab has rescued renal function in refractory PI-TMA, supporting a complement-mediated component.

Anticancer mechanism

Reversibly inhibits the chymotrypsin-like activity of the 20S proteasome (beta-5 subunit), causing accumulation of polyubiquitinated misfolded proteins, ER stress, and NF-kB-dependent apoptosis in malignant plasma cells. Used orally with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Note

TMA with ixazomib is rare and case-level; incidence is not reliably quantified. The signal is extrapolated from the proteasome-inhibitor class, where carfilzomib dominates.

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.Ixazomib-induced thrombotic microangiopathy.Yui JC et al. · Am J Hematol · 2017 · PMID 28133842
  2. 2.Drug-Induced Thrombotic Microangiopathy due to Cumulative Toxicity of Ixazomib.Atallah-Yunes SA et al. · Case Rep Hematol · 2018 · PMID 30057831
  3. 3.Proteasome inhibitor-associated thrombotic microangiopathy: a real-world retrospective and pharmacovigilance database analysis.Deng Z et al. · Support Care Cancer · 2025 · PMID 39939437
  4. 4.Simultaneous Cases of Carfilzomib-Induced Thrombotic Microangiopathy in 2 Patients With Multiple Myeloma.Myall NJ et al. · Fed Pract · 2022 · PMID 36426106
  5. 5.Final Overall Survival Analysis of the TOURMALINE-MM1 Phase III Trial of Ixazomib, Lenalidomide, and Dexamethasone in Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma.Richardson PG et al. · J Clin Oncol · 2021 · PMID 34111952
  6. 6.Onconephrology: mitigation of renal injury in chemotherapy administration.Selamet U et al. · Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens · 2024 · PMID 38095483

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.

  1. C1.[B · Moderate]Drug-induced Thrombotic Microangiopathy with Concurrent Proteasome Inhibitor Use in the Treatment of Multiple Myeloma: A Case Series and Review of the Literature.Monteith BE et al. · Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk · 2020 · PMID 32807717
  2. C2.[C · Limited]Ixazomib-induced thrombotic microangiopathy resolving without complement pathway inhibition: a case report.Lafont T et al. · Leuk Lymphoma · 2025 · PMID 39565042
Educational monograph from NephTox (nephtox.com). Not medical advice — verify against current guidelines before any clinical decision.