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VEGFR/FGFR/PDGFR TKI

Nintedanib

Ofev · Ninte

VEGFR/FGFR/PDGFR TKI · approved 2014 · 5 references

An antifibrotic VEGFR/FGFR/PDGFR TKI that can rarely cross into the kidney as proteinuria or thrombotic microangiopathy.

Signature injury
Hypertension
Severity
Mild
Reversibility
Reversible
Onset
Over months of therapy in reported cases.

Signature kidney injury & incidence

Hypertension.

Renal effects are uncommon; proteinuria and rare biopsy-proven renal thrombotic microangiopathy have been reported, consistent with VEGF-pathway inhibition. Renal incidence is not well quantified (case-level), and much of the published renal experience comes from pulmonary-fibrosis rather than oncology cohorts.

Source: Fujita et al., Case Rep Nephrol Dial 2021 (TMA case)

Reported injury signatures: Hypertension, Thrombotic Microangiopathy, Glomerular Injury / Proteinuria.

Renal toxicity profile

  1. HypertensionPrimary
  2. Glomerular Injury / ProteinuriaSecondaryVEGF-pathway proteinuria / glomerular microangiopathy; documented at case level, population incidence unknown
  3. Thrombotic MicroangiopathyRarerenal thrombotic microangiopathy in isolated case reports

Onset timing & rechallenge

Delayed (>6 weeks / cumulative) — Reported over months of therapy.

Mechanism of kidney injury

VEGFR inhibition reduces glomerular endothelial VEGF signaling, which can injure the fenestrated endothelium and filtration barrier, producing proteinuria/hypertension and, in rare reported cases, a dose-dependent and reversible renal thrombotic microangiopathy with microaneurysms, glomerular basement-membrane double contours and intracapillary foam cells. The added FGFR/PDGFR activity does not clearly amplify the renal lesion.

Clinical presentation

Proteinuria and reduced kidney function, sometimes with hypertension; biopsy in reported TMA cases shows microaneurysms filled with pale material, segmental GBM double contours and intracapillary foam cells. Diarrhea and hepatotoxicity are the more common general toxicities.

Management

Dose-reduce or discontinue for proteinuria/renal dysfunction; reported renal TMA improved after discontinuation (and partially with dose reduction). Control blood pressure (ACE inhibitor/ARB) and provide supportive care.

Risk factors

  • Higher dose / cumulative exposure
  • Pre-existing hypertension or CKD

Prevention

  • Dose reduction for emerging renal or other toxicity

Renal dose adjustment

No dose adjustment for mild-to-moderate renal impairment; <1% is excreted renally and nintedanib is predominantly cleared by hydrolytic ester cleavage and biliary/fecal excretion. It has not been studied in severe renal impairment (CrCl < 30 mL/min). Dose reduction is driven by hepatotoxicity (transaminitis) more than by renal function.

Dialyzability & ESKD dosing

Highly protein-bound (~98%) with biliary/fecal elimination, so it is not meaningfully dialyzable; no supplemental dosing for HD. ESKD data are essentially absent.

Differential diagnosis

Nintedanib-associated renal TMA/proteinuria (biopsy microaneurysms, double contours) versus other anti-VEGF-pathway TMA, versus baseline hypertensive/diabetic nephropathy, and — in lung-cancer patients — versus concurrent cisplatin/other nephrotoxins or paraneoplastic glomerulopathy.

Monitoring

  • Blood pressure and urine protein periodically
  • Serum creatinine; CBC/LDH and smear if TMA suspected
  • Liver enzymes (the more common dose-limiting toxicity)

Key trials & series

  • LUME-Lung 1 phase III trial (docetaxel +/- nintedanib in previously treated NSCLC) — registrational oncology trial
  • INPULSIS trials (IPF) — large antifibrotic safety database from which much renal experience derives

Clinical pearls

  • Nintedanib is mostly an antifibrotic in practice, so its renal literature comes largely from IPF, not oncology — treat the renal evidence as thin and class-based.
  • Its dominant dose-limiting toxicity is hepatotoxicity, not nephrotoxicity; renal TMA is rare and reversible.
  • Negligible renal excretion means no renal dose adjustment, but it is also non-dialyzable.

Anticancer mechanism

Oral intracellular inhibitor of VEGFR1-3, FGFR1-3 and PDGFR-alpha/beta (plus Src-family kinases). In oncology it is combined with docetaxel for non-small-cell lung adenocarcinoma; it is also widely used as an antifibrotic in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other progressive fibrosing interstitial lung diseases.

Note

Renal toxicity is rare and case-level; the TMA signal reflects its VEGFR-inhibitor activity.

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.

  • KDIGO (2021) — Management of Blood Pressure in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease Not Receiving Dialysis: Synopsis of the 2021 KDIGO Clinical Practice GuidelineRecommends standardized office BP measurement and a target systolic BP <120 mm Hg for most CKD patients, with RAAS inhibitors first-line when albuminuria is present — the BP-management basis for anti-VEGF/TKI-induced hypertension and proteinuria.Ann Intern Med · PMID 34152826
  • ESC (2022) — 2022 ESC Guidelines on cardio-oncology developed in collaboration with the European Hematology Association (EHA), the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO) and the International Cardio-Oncology Society (IC-OS)For VEGF/VEGFR inhibitors, perform baseline cardiovascular risk assessment, monitor blood pressure (weekly during the first cycle, then regularly) and treat to a target <140/90 mmHg with ACE inhibitors/ARBs and dihydropyridine calcium-channel blockers; manage VEGFi-associated hypertension and proteinuria with interruption/dose modification when severe.Eur Heart J · PMID 36017568
  • ESC (2022) — European Society of Cardiology quality indicators for the prevention and management of cancer therapy-related cardiovascular toxicity in cancer treatmentAdherence quality indicators require documented baseline cardiovascular risk assessment and structured monitoring of cardiovascular complications (including hypertension) during cancer therapy such as VEGF-pathway inhibitors.Eur Heart J Qual Care Clin Outcomes · PMID 36316010
  • UK Consensus Panel (2010) — Using bevacizumab to treat metastatic cancer: UK consensus guidelinesAssess and monitor blood pressure and proteinuria during bevacizumab therapy; treat emergent hypertension to standard targets and interrupt/discontinue the drug for uncontrolled hypertension, nephrotic-range proteinuria or other severe vascular toxicity.Br J Hosp Med (Lond) · PMID 21135762
  • 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

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

  1. 1.Nintedanib-Induced Renal Thrombotic Microangiopathy.Fujita T et al. · Case Rep Nephrol Dial · 2021 · PMID 34414215
  2. 2.Docetaxel plus nintedanib versus docetaxel plus placebo in patients with previously treated non-small-cell lung cancer (LUME-Lung 1): a phase 3, double-blind, randomised controlled trial.Reck M et al. · Lancet Oncol · 2014 · PMID 24411639
  3. 3.Therapeutic Inhibition of VEGF Signaling and Associated Nephrotoxicities.Estrada CC et al. · J Am Soc Nephrol · 2019 · PMID 30642877
  4. 4.The Role of Angiogenesis Inhibitors in Hypertension: Following "Ariadne's Thread".Sanidas E et al. · Am J Hypertens · 2018 · PMID 29788148
  5. 5.Proteinuria and hypertension in patients treated with inhibitors of the VEGF signalling pathway--incidence, mechanisms and management.Tesarova P et al. · Folia Biol (Praha) · 2013 · PMID 23537524

Case reports & series (4)

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.[A · Strong]Slipping Through the Chasm of Multicenter Hand-offs-Rare Incidence of Nintedanib Induced Renal Failure: Case Report.Abid MM et al. · J Community Hosp Intern Med Perspect · 2026 · PMID 41809227
  2. C2.[B · Moderate]Nintedanib-induced glomerular microangiopathy: a case report.Hasegawa M et al. · CEN Case Rep · 2020 · PMID 32279192
  3. C3.[B · Moderate]Renal thrombotic microangiopathy during nintedanib treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
.Inoue D et al. · Clin Nephrol · 2020 · PMID 31699213
  4. C4.[B · Moderate]Microscopic polyangiitis with histopathologic evolution in serial renal biopsies during treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.Yamaguchi Y et al. · CEN Case Rep · 2025 · PMID 40802046
Educational monograph from NephTox (nephtox.com). Not medical advice — verify against current guidelines before any clinical decision.