Palbociclib

Pseudo-AKI — representative incidence ~16%.

A reversible rise in serum creatinine is common, but true structural kidney injury is uncommon. CDK4/6 inhibitors block the proximal-tubule transporters that secrete creatinine, producing a 'pseudo-AKI' picture. In a single-center palbociclib cohort 16% (8 of 50) met creatinine-based AKI criteria (Ly, PMID 39648753); the 17.5% often quoted is the whole mixed CDK4/6-inhibitor cohort of 234 patients, not the palbociclib arm. Where cystatin C was available, 73% of those events proved to be pseudo-AKI rather than a true GFR decline.

Source: Ly et al. (PMID 39648753) — palbociclib-specific: 16% (8/50) creatinine-based AKI. Class-wide context: Buijs et al., Br J Cancer 2025 (PMID 39930149), 17.5% of 234 CDK4/6i-treated patients; pseudo-AKI 73% (16/22).

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

1. Pseudo-AKIPrimaryClass effect: predominant renal signal is pseudo-AKI (creatinine rise from OCT2/MATE inhibition without a real GFR decline); true AKI (acute tubular injury, interstitial nephritis) is rare
2. Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKISecondary
3. Electrolyte DisturbanceRareHypokalemia/hyponatremia reported but uncommon relative to the near-universal creatinine change

Subacute (~1–6 weeks) — Creatinine typically rises within the first 1-2 cycles (median onset roughly 30-35 days), then plateaus and reverses after dose hold or discontinuation.

• Older age (>=65 years)
• Higher baseline creatinine/urea
• Volume depletion or concurrent nephrotoxins
• Concomitant CYP3A4 inhibitors raising drug exposure

• Recognize transporter-mediated pseudo-AKI before stopping effective therapy
• Maintain euvolemia; review concomitant nephrotoxins and CYP3A4 interactions

• Cystatin-C-based eGFR when creatinine rises >=0.3 mg/dL or >25% from baseline
• CBC with differential (primary dose-limiting toxicity is neutropenia)

• PALOMA-2/PALOMA-3 (registrational efficacy)
• Buijs Br J Cancer 2025 pseudo-AKI cohort
• Ly J Oncol Pharm Pract 2024 class-effect pseudo-Scr analysis

• A creatinine bump in the first two cycles with a normal cystatin C is pseudo-AKI - do not stop an effective drug.
• Up to ~12% of patients have had palbociclib unjustly dose-reduced or stopped for what was only transporter inhibition.
• The effect mirrors trimethoprim and cobicistat - secretion blockade, not injury.

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