RET inhibitor
Selpercatinib
Retevmo · Selp
RET inhibitor · approved 2020 · 8 references
A selective RET inhibitor whose cardiometabolic signature includes hypertension and creatinine rise.
- Signature injury
- Hypertension
- Severity
- Moderate
- Reversibility
- Reversible
- Onset
- Hypertension within the first weeks to months; creatinine changes early.
Signature kidney injury & incidence
Hypertension — representative grade ≥3 incidence ~19.7%.
Hypertension is among the most common adverse events in LIBRETTO-001 (a frequent grade >=3 event), and a reversible serum-creatinine increase is also recognized. A single-center hereditary-MTC series found hypertension in ~26% on selective RET inhibitors. Reported rate: grade >=3 hypertension in 19.7% — 837 patients with RET-activated advanced/metastatic solid tumors receiving selpercatinib monotherapy (20 mg QD to 240… (Raez 2024, PMID 39471424).
Source: Raez et al., Oncologist 2024
Reported injury signatures: Hypertension, Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI, Pseudo-AKI, Glomerular Injury / Proteinuria, SIADH / Hyponatremia.
Renal toxicity profile
- HypertensionPrimary~14%Grade >=3 hypertension in 14% of RET fusion-positive NSCLC and 21% of RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer (LIBRETTO-001); the most common grade >=3 adverse event
- Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKISecondary
- Pseudo-AKIRare
- Glomerular Injury / ProteinuriaRareA single biopsy-worked-up, dose-responsive nephropathy case - distinct from the transporter creatinine artifact.
- SIADH / HyponatremiaRareTwo drug-specific reports: SIADH with positive dechallenge, and tubular damage with symptomatic hyponatremia.
Onset timing & rechallenge
Subacute (~1–6 weeks) — Hypertension within the first weeks to months; creatinine changes early.
Mechanism of kidney injury
Clinical presentation
Management
Risk factors
- Pre-existing hypertension
- Cardiovascular disease
- Concurrent nephrotoxins or QT-prolonging drugs
Prevention
- Optimize antihypertensives before/during therapy
Renal dose adjustment
Dialyzability & ESKD dosing
Differential diagnosis
Monitoring
- Blood pressure at baseline, after 1 week, at least monthly, and as clinically indicated
- Serum creatinine periodically; cystatin C-based eGFR if a true GFR change is suspected
- ECG/QTc and liver enzymes per label
Key trials & series
- LIBRETTO-001 (RET fusion-positive NSCLC and thyroid; RET-mutant MTC)
- LIBRETTO-431 (first-line RET fusion-positive NSCLC)
- Hamidi 2024 hereditary-MTC RET-inhibitor safety series
Clinical pearls
- Treat the blood pressure and check a cystatin C before assuming the creatinine rise means true GFR loss.
- Hypertension is the principal renal-relevant signal — manage it to keep patients on effective RET-directed therapy.
- Co-monitor QTc, since selective RET inhibitors prolong it and several antihypertensive/antiemetic co-medications also do.
- A biopsy-worked-up, dose-responsive nephropathy with nephrotic features is attributed to selpercatinib — separate from its transporter-mediated creatinine artifact.
- Two independent reports attribute dysnatremia to selpercatinib: SIADH improving on discontinuation (with successful reduced-dose resumption) and tubular damage with symptomatic hyponatremia and polyuria.
Anticancer mechanism
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.Long-term safety of selpercatinib for Rearranged during transfection (RET)-activated advanced solid tumors in LIBRETTO-001: differing patterns of adverse events over timeRaez LE et al. · The Oncologist · 2024 · PMID 39471424
- 2.Efficacy of Selpercatinib in RET Fusion-Positive Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.Drilon A et al. · N Engl J Med · 2020 · PMID 32846060
- 3.Tumour-agnostic efficacy and safety of selpercatinib in patients with RET fusion-positive solid tumours other than lung or thyroid tumours (LIBRETTO-001): a phase 1/2, open-label, basket trial.Subbiah V et al. · Lancet Oncol · 2022 · PMID 36108661
- 4.Efficacy and Safety of Selective RET Inhibitors in Patients with Advanced Hereditary Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.Hamidi S et al. · Thyroid · 2024 · PMID 39630530
- 5.Targeted Cancer Therapies Causing Elevations in Serum Creatinine Through Tubular Secretion Inhibition: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.Mach T et al. · Can J Kidney Health Dis · 2022 · PMID 35756332
- 6.Navigating the Complexities of Cancer Treatment-Induced Hypertension.Arriola-Montenegro J et al. · J Cardiovasc Dev Dis · 2025 · PMID 40558670
- 7.Current Trends in Anti-Cancer Molecular Targeted Therapies: Renal Complications and Their Histological Features.Tonooka A et al. · J Nippon Med Sch · 2021 · PMID 34840210
- 8.A Case of Syndrome of Inappropriate Secretion of Antidiuretic Hormone Induced by Selpercatinib in a Patient With RET Fusion Gene-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.Tanaka Y et al. · Respirol Case Rep · 2025 · PMID 41036187
Case reports & series (3)
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.
- C1.[B · Moderate]Selpercatinib-Associated Nephropathy in RET Fusion-Positive Lung Cancer: A Case Successfully Managed With Dose Adjustment and Nephroprotective Therapy.Oe K et al. · Clin Lung Cancer · 2026 · PMID 41512743
- C2.[C · Limited]Selpercatinib-induced renal tubular damage resulting in symptomatic hyponatremia and polyuria: a case report.Betsema L et al. · Cancer Chemother Pharmacol · 2026 · PMID 41484433
- C3.[C · Limited]Tumor Lysis Syndrome Induced by Selpercatinib in Rearranged During Transfection (RET) Fusion-Positive Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.Sagawa S et al. · Cureus · 2025 · PMID 41477385