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Printable monograph

Somatostatin analog

Octreotide

Sandostatin · OCT

Somatostatin analog · approved 1988 · 7 citations

Recent· through 2024
Fairly sourced6/9 · 5 signals
  • Met: 7 citations
  • Not met: 12+ references
  • Met: Accrued over 10+ years (span: 31y)
  • Not met: Beyond single case reports
  • Met: High-impact journal
  • Met: Landmark reference
  • Met: Current through 2024
  • Not met: Real-world FAERS signal

Describes how this page is sourced, not how dangerous the drug is. Thinly sourced means fewer of the sourcing signals are met — not that the agent is kidney-safe. A rule-based summary, not a formal certainty appraisal.

Largely kidney-neutral somatostatin analog that may even be renoprotective; renally cleared, so caution in severe impairment.

Mildestablished
Symptom control in functioning neuroendocrine tumors (carcinoid syndrome, VIPomas, glucagonomas)AcromegalyControl of variceal/GI bleeding (off-label in some regions)Antiproliferative therapy in advanced midgut NETs (LAR formulation)
§01

Signature kidney injury

Signature lesion

No characteristic intrinsic nephrotoxicity; octreotide is generally considered kidney-neutral. Renal events are rare, indirect, and not reliably quantified. Mild electrolyte disturbances are uncommon.Source: Rosner et al., NEJM 2017 (kidney-neutral; renal events rare/indirect)

Onset & rechallenge

Time to injuryVariable / unpredictable

No intrinsic renal injury is described; drug accumulation in renal failure is a gradual pharmacokinetic effect without a defined onset.

Distilled from: “Not applicable for intrinsic injury; pharmacokinetic accumulation in renal failure is gradual.”

§02

Renal toxicities, ranked

This agent's kidney lesions ordered by prominence — the #1 signature lesion first, then secondary and rare patterns. Cited incidence is shown where a citable figure exists; otherwise the tier stands qualitatively.

  1. Electrolyte Disturbance#1 · Signaturequalitative — no citable incidence

    Renal electrolyte derangement — magnesium/potassium/calcium wasting (cisplatin, anti-EGFR antibodies) or retention (FGFR-inhibitor hyperphosphatemia, tumor-lysis hyperkalemia/hyperphosphatemia).

  2. Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKISecondaryqualitative — no citable incidence

    Renal hypoperfusion from capillary leak and cytokine storm — IL-2 and CAR-T cytokine release syndrome.

§03

Kidney injury

Mechanism of kidney injury

Octreotide has no established direct tubular or glomerular toxicity. Any renal relevance is indirect and pharmacokinetic: the peptide is partly renally eliminated, so clearance falls and exposure rises in significant renal impairment (uremia prolongs disposal of somatostatin-suppressible hormones, illustrating the kidney's role in clearance of this axis). Conversely, experimental data suggest octreotide can be renoprotective via antioxidant effects, improving renal catalase levels and glomerular histology in an adriamycin nephrotic model. Rare electrolyte effects relate to its broad antisecretory hormonal action rather than to structural kidney injury.

Clinical presentation

Typically none referable to the kidney. When relevant, manifestations are mild and indirect: occasional electrolyte shifts, or — in the context of underlying hormone-secreting tumors — paraneoplastic SIADH/hyponatremia for which octreotide has been explored as adjunctive tumor-directed control rather than as a cause. In severe renal impairment, drug accumulation rather than nephrotoxicity is the concern.

Management

No renal-specific management is required in most patients. In severe renal impairment, consider that systemic exposure is increased and titrate/monitor accordingly. Manage any electrolyte abnormalities supportively and treat the underlying tumor.Lesion-level management framework

Risk factors

  • Severe chronic kidney disease or dialysis dependence (reduced clearance)
  • Concurrent volume depletion from carcinoid diarrhea
  • Underlying hormone-secreting tumor causing baseline electrolyte derangement

Prevention

  • Recognize that the drug is kidney-neutral; no specific renoprotective monitoring needed in normal renal function
  • Account for reduced clearance in severe renal impairment/dialysis
  • Maintain euvolemia in patients with secretory diarrhea
Anticancer mechanism· how it treats cancer

Synthetic octapeptide analog of somatostatin that binds somatostatin receptors (predominantly SSTR2/SSTR5) on neuroendocrine tumor cells, inhibiting secretion of growth hormone, glucagon, insulin, and a range of gut hormones, and exerting antiproliferative/antisecretory effects; used to control hormonal hypersecretion syndromes and, with the long-acting formulation, for tumor stabilization.

Note · Octreotide is one of the few oncology agents with experimental signals of renoprotection rather than nephrotoxicity. It is reported in hemodialysis patients for NET symptom control, but octreotide has caused severe hyperkalemia in a hemodialysis patient by suppressing insulin and impairing cellular potassium uptake, so monitor potassium when using it on dialysis.
§04

Clinical depth

Renal dose adjustment

No adjustment for mild-to-moderate renal impairment is generally mandated, but clearance is reduced in severe impairment and in dialysis patients, where lower or less frequent dosing and closer monitoring are prudent; consult product labeling for the specific formulation.

Dialyzability & ESKD dosing

Not meaningfully removed by dialysis as a basis for supplemental dosing; the peptide is partly renally eliminated, and case experience supports cautious use in hemodialysis patients without routine post-dialysis supplementation.

Differential diagnosis

Hyponatremia in a NET patient should be parsed as paraneoplastic SIADH or volume depletion from secretory diarrhea rather than an octreotide tubular effect; rising drug effect in CKD reflects reduced clearance, not new kidney injury.

Monitoring

  • Serum electrolytes and volume status in symptomatic NET patients
  • Glucose (octreotide alters insulin/glucagon balance)
  • Clinical response/hormone markers
  • Renal function to gauge clearance in advanced CKD

Key trials & series

  • Experimental adriamycin nephrotic-syndrome model showing octreotide antioxidant/renoprotective effect (Cavdar, J Bras Nefrol 2024)
  • Case experience of carcinoid management in hemodialysis (Burke & Gray, Nephrology 2012)

Clinical pearls

  • It is renally eliminated in part: think about accumulation, not toxicity, in severe CKD/dialysis.
  • Electrolyte effects, when present, stem from broad antisecretory hormone action and are usually mild.
  • Can be used for symptom control in dialysis patients with appropriate caution.
Where it strikes· nephron segments & injury signatures

Nephron segments

Vasculature / Endothelium

Glomerular & peritubular capillaries

Distal Tubule / Collecting Duct

Fine-tuning of Na, K, Mg, acid & water

§05

References

4 primary references — trials, cohorts, mechanism, and reviews. Single-patient case reports are listed separately below, graded by strength. Citation metadata via PubMed / NLM.

Evidence accrual

4 references · 1993–2024 · 1 since 2022
101993: 1 citation2012: 1 citation2017: 1 citation2024: 1 citation19932000201020202024

Primary (non–case-report) references per year — a proxy for how actively the agent's renal literature is accruing. Recent years are highlighted. Reflects curation depth, not a systematic bibliometric count.

  1. 1.Effect of octreotide on oxidative stress in the erythrocyte and kidney tissue in adriamycin-induced experimental nephrotic syndrome model.Cavdar S et al. · J Bras Nefrol · 2024 · PMID 37527531Experimental evidence that octreotide improves renal antioxidant (catalase) levels and glomerular histology in a nephrotic model — supports a renoprotective rather than nephrotoxic profile.
  2. 2.Metabolic clearance rate of biosynthetic growth hormone after endogenous growth hormone suppression with a somatostatin analogue in chronic renal failure patients and control subjects.Garcia-Mayor RV et al. · Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) · 1993 · PMID 8222296Demonstrates the kidney's role in clearance within the somatostatin-suppressible hormonal axis (octreotide used to suppress endogenous GH), underpinning reduced clearance in renal failure.
  3. 3.Carcinoid tumour management in haemodialysis: a case report.Burke MT et al. · Nephrology (Carlton) · 2012 · PMID 22257155Case experience of octreotide-based carcinoid management in a hemodialysis patient, illustrating practical use in advanced renal failure.
  4. 4.LandmarkAcute Kidney Injury in Patients with Cancer.Rosner MH et al. · N Engl J Med · 2017 · PMID 28467867Authoritative onconephrology review framing AKI mechanisms in cancer patients; context for distinguishing indirect/electrolyte effects from intrinsic nephrotoxicity.
FDA label — boxed warning & renal dosing· renal impairment

Quoted verbatim from this agent's current FDA label (Jul 2026) — not paraphrased or interpreted. Full label on DailyMed .

Renal impairment — from the label

In patients with severe renal failure requiring dialysis, the half-life of Sandostatin may be increased, necessitating adjustment of the maintenance dosage [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)] .

What gets reported — FAERS

Everything below is FAERS — adverse events someone chose to report, about 30,742 of them for this agent. Nobody counts the patients who were fine, so none of these numbers is an incidence, a risk, or a rate: they describe what gets reported, shaped by a drug's fame, its indication, and who was watching. How these numbers work.

  • Reporting odds ratio (ROR) — is kidney injury named in this agent's reports more often than in every other drug's? Above 1 means yes, disproportionately.
  • Renal phenotypes — the same question asked separately for each kind of kidney injury, so the ratios differ from the overall one and from each other.
  • Outcomes — a share of this agent's own reports, not of patients: how many were filed as involving a death or a hospitalization. Not a case-fatality rate.
FAERS reported renal phenotypes· 5 signals

Only significant signals appear (95% CI lower bound above 1) — a phenotype missing here was tested and did not reach significance, except Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI, Pseudo-AKI, Renal Cysts, Chronic Interstitial Nephropathy — outside the clinician-reviewed MedDRA term map, never queried — and ATN and AIN, queried but biopsy-bound: real cases are filed as generic “acute kidney injury”, so their absence is not a negative. As of 2026-10-01.

What reporting says about this profile's documented lesions

  • Electrolyte Disturbancecorroborated · ROR 1.92 — on the terms that name the lesion (ROR 2.12)
  • Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKINot queried in FAERS — No MedDRA term set is defined for this phenotype, so FAERS was never asked about it.
Hypertension
ROR 9.8495% CI 9.54–10.16· 4,740 reports
Crystal / Obstructive Nephropathy
ROR 5.9295% CI 5.41–6.49· 474 reports
Hemorrhagic Cystitis
ROR 3.0695% CI 2.74–3.43· 308 reports
Electrolyte Disturbance
ROR 1.9295% CI 1.76–2.09· 532 reports
SIADH / Hyponatremia
ROR 1.5495% CI 1.33–1.78· 181 reports
FAERS outcomes & reporting trend· 19.9% of reports w/ death · 33.9% w/ hospitalization
19.9%

Reported with a death outcome

6,112 of 30,742 reports

33.9%

Reported with hospitalization

10,421 of 30,742 reports

Reports per year

  • 2015: 2,244 reports
  • 2016: 2,869 reports
  • 2017: 2,981 reports
  • 2018: 3,167 reports
  • 2019: 2,778 reports
  • 2020: 3,218 reports
  • 2021: 2,799 reports
  • 2022: 1,800 reports
  • 2023: 1,738 reports
  • 2024: 1,352 reports
  • 2025: 1,225 reports
  • 2026: 580 reports

Yearly FAERS report volume · most recent year is partial.

FAERS adverse-event signal — all organ systems· 6 systems · 30,742 reports

Bars rank systems by summed reaction-term mentions (a report counts once per term it names) — an ordinal “more vs less reported” cue, not a tally of distinct reports. Renal & urinary first. As of 2026-10-01.

Disproportionality (acute kidney injury):ROR 1.0395% CI 0.91–1.17· 230 AKI reports ·no disproportionate AKI reporting signal (CI spans 1).
General / constitutional
Fatigue3,543Malaise3,031Pain2,604Asthenia2,289Weight Decreased2,283
Gastrointestinal
Diarrhoea4,580Nausea2,998Abdominal Pain2,478Vomiting2,063
Vascular
Blood Pressure Increased2,980Blood Pressure Systolic Increased2,393
Nervous system
Headache2,105Dizziness2,056
Musculoskeletal
Arthralgia1,664Pain In Extremity1,475
Respiratory
Dyspnoea1,681Cough1,401
Guidelines & consensus· 13

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.

General onco-nephrology references

ADQIThe nephrotoxic effects of anti-cancer therapies: consensus report of the 34th Acute Disease Quality Initiative workgroupNat Rev Nephrol 2026 · PMID 41361704Provides 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.SIRMSIRM-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)Radiol Med 2022 · PMID 35303246Recommends 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.KDIGOKDIGO Controversies Conference on onco-nephrology: understanding kidney impairment and solid-organ malignancies, and managing kidney cancerKidney Int 2020 · PMID 33126977Identifies 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.KDIGOKDIGO Controversies Conference on onco-nephrology: kidney disease in hematological malignancies and the burden of cancer after kidney transplantationKidney Int 2020 · PMID 33276867Addresses 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.ADDIKDIntegrating International Consensus Guidelines for Anticancer Drug Dosing in Kidney Dysfunction (ADDIKD) into everyday practiceEClinicalMedicine 2025 · PMID 40290844Provides 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.ADDIKDAligning kidney function assessment in patients with cancer to global practices in internal medicineEClinicalMedicine 2025 · PMID 40290845Three 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.ADDIKDA methodology for determining dosing recommendations for anticancer drugs in patients with reduced kidney functionEClinicalMedicine 2025 · PMID 40290846Establishes 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.KDIGODiagnosis, evaluation, and management of acute kidney injury: a KDIGO summary (Part 1)Crit Care 2013 · PMID 23394211Defines/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.KDIGOExecutive summary of the KDIGO 2024 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Management of Chronic Kidney Disease: known knowns and known unknownsKidney Int 2024 · PMID 38519239Evaluate 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.KDIGOExecutive summary of the KDIGO 2021 Guideline for the Management of Glomerular DiseasesKidney Int 2021 · PMID 34556300Provides 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.KDIGOExecutive summary of the KDIGO 2024 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of ANCA-Associated VasculitisKidney Int 2024 · PMID 38388147Updates 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.KDIGOExecutive summary of the KDIGO 2024 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Lupus NephritisKidney Int 2024 · PMID 38182299Updates 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.KDIGOExecutive summary of the KDIGO 2025 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Immunoglobulin A Nephropathy (IgAN) and Immunoglobulin A Vasculitis (IgAV)Kidney Int 2025 · PMID 40975525Encourages 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.

Where Octreotide sits in nephrotoxicity space — each dot is an anti-cancer agent, positioned so neighbors share a kidney-injury phenotype. Its 6 closest are filled and lead to a numbered marker, matching the numbered cards below.

Position is a 2-D projection (MDS) of each agent's injury signature, nephron target, severity, and class, so two dots can sit close on the page while differing on an axis the projection flattened — the numbered ranking is computed from the full metric, not from the distance you see. Open the full map.
Phenotype-similar agents· the numbered markers on the map above

Lanreotide

Somatuline · Somatostatin analog

Profile

Kidney-neutral (CLARINET: diarrhea dominant); increased exposure in renal impairment.

LYTEPRE
Mild#1 · 98% phenotype match

Darolutamide

Nubeqa · Androgen receptor inhibitor (ARSI)

Profile

Not nephrotoxic; exposure rises in severe renal impairment, so consider dose adaptation.

LYTEPRE
Mild#2 · 97% phenotype match

Mitotane

Lysodren · Adrenolytic

Profile

Indirect: hypoadrenalism drives hyponatremia/prerenal; cisplatin nephrotoxicity in EDP-M.

LYTEPRE
Moderate#3 · 93% phenotype match

Glasdegib

Daurismo · Hedgehog (SMO) inhibitor

Profile

QT prolongation and muscle spasms; AML.

PRELYTE
Mild#4 · 86% phenotype match

Sevabertinib

Hyrnuo · HER2/EGFR TKI

Profile

2025 reversible HER2/EGFR TKI; profuse diarrhea (84-91%) → prerenal AKI, plus EGFR-pathway renal magnesium wasting.

PRELYTE
Mild#5 · 86% phenotype match

Gedatolisib

Revtorpyk · Pan-PI3K inhibitor

Profile

2026 IV pan-PI3K + mTORC1/2 (breast); on-target hyperglycemia and low-grade Na/K/Mg drift — creatinine up 14% vs 8% control, grade 3-4 rare.

LYTEPRE
Mild#6 · 86% phenotype match
Compare Octreotide with its nearest agents

Nearest agents by kidney-injury phenotype (shared injuries, nephron target, severity, class) — a similarity approximation, not a claim of shared drug identity or mechanism.

Kidney risk across Hormonal / endocrine

Same-class agents ordered by their documented kidney-injury profile — atlas severity, an acute-kidney-injury FAERS signal, and how many injury types each is documented to cause. Agents nearer the top carry the lighter documented renal profile.

  1. 1ElacestrantMild
  2. 2LeuprolideMild
  3. 3VepdegestrantMild
  4. 4DarolutamideMild
  5. 5EnzalutamideMild
  6. 6ImlunestrantMild
  7. 7LanreotideMild
  8. 8Octreotide· this agentMild
  9. 9TamoxifenMild
  10. 10BicalutamideFAERS AKIMild
  11. 11MitotaneModerate
  12. 12AbirateroneFAERS AKIModerate

A comparison of documented kidney-injury data within one drug class — not a substitution recommendation. Efficacy, indication, and non-renal toxicity differ between these agents and are out of scope here. Educational only, not medical advice.

Who studies this

The leading contributors to Octreotide’s clinical kidney literature on PubMed, ranked by a blend of publication volume and citation impact — filtered toward clinical work via the PubMed Humans heading and clinical publication types (trials, cohorts, case reports, guidelines, reviews). Names link to that author’s work on Octreotide; the PMIDs beside each name are up to three of their most recent papers on it, not the full count.

  1. Ruggenenti, Piero — their work on Octreotide, on PubMed (opens in a new tab)5 papers · 536 citesPMID 36754009 (opens PubMed in a new tab)PMID 30951521 (opens PubMed in a new tab)PMID 26844873 (opens PubMed in a new tab)
  2. Krenning, Eric P — their work on Octreotide, on PubMed (opens in a new tab)6 papers · 855 citesPMID 22237390 (opens PubMed in a new tab)PMID 17653893 (opens PubMed in a new tab)PMID 17546456 (opens PubMed in a new tab)
  3. De Jong, Marion — their work on Octreotide, on PubMed (opens in a new tab)6 papers · 909 citesPMID 22237390 (opens PubMed in a new tab)PMID 20554737 (opens PubMed in a new tab)PMID 17653893 (opens PubMed in a new tab)
  4. Valkema, Roelf — their work on Octreotide, on PubMed (opens in a new tab)5 papers · 815 citesPMID 17653893 (opens PubMed in a new tab)PMID 17546456 (opens PubMed in a new tab)PMID 15653658 (opens PubMed in a new tab)
  5. Walter, Martin A — their work on Octreotide, on PubMed (opens in a new tab)4 papers · 744 citesPMID 22393097 (opens PubMed in a new tab)PMID 21555692 (opens PubMed in a new tab)PMID 19280592 (opens PubMed in a new tab)

Ranked by a 50/50 blend of publication volume and a position-weighted, capped Relative Citation Ratio (NIH iCite) on this agent’s renal literature; the citation count shown is the raw total, not the ranking score — counted over the 146 clinical records among all 237 PubMed matches, so counts are within-sample — bibliometric context, not an endorsement or a measure of clinical authority.