Skip to content
Back to full profile

MEK inhibitor

Selumetinib

Koselugo · Selu

MEK inhibitor · approved 2020 · 6 references

A pediatric MEK inhibitor for neurofibromatosis — kidney effects are modest and rarely limiting.

Signature injury
Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI
Severity
Mild
Reversibility
Reversible
Onset
Variable; adverse events can appear after prolonged dosing.

Signature kidney injury & incidence

Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKI.

Long-term pediatric trial data (SPRINT, up to ~5 years) show a manageable safety profile with no new safety signals; significant nephrotoxicity is not prominent, with creatinine changes generally modest. CK elevation is a recognized MEK-class laboratory effect.

Source: Gross et al., Neuro Oncol 2023

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

Renal toxicity profile

  1. Prerenal / Hemodynamic AKIPrimary
  2. Electrolyte DisturbanceSecondary

Onset timing & rechallenge

Variable / unpredictable — Timing is variable, with adverse events able to appear after prolonged dosing.

Mechanism of kidney injury

No characteristic intrinsic nephrotoxic mechanism; as a MEK inhibitor it can raise CK and (rarely) cause rhabdomyolysis, a potential indirect cause of pigment tubular injury. Modest creatinine changes are within class expectations and may partly reflect tubular-secretion inhibition. GI losses (diarrhea, vomiting) can produce prerenal azotemia in children.

Clinical presentation

Generally mild; possible modest creatinine change and asymptomatic CK elevation. Diarrhea, rash, paronychia, and (rarely) reduced ejection fraction dominate the pediatric toxicity profile; dehydration from GI losses is the most common pathway to AKI.

Management

Supportive care; hold for marked CK rise/rhabdomyolysis with IV fluids; replace volume and correct electrolytes during GI losses; dose-modify per protocol for grade 3 events.

Risk factors

  • Dehydration (pediatric, GI losses)
  • Strenuous activity (CK)
  • Pre-existing renal disease

Prevention

  • Maintain hydration, especially during GI toxicity
  • Manage diarrhea/vomiting promptly

Renal dose adjustment

Weight/BSA-based pediatric dosing; no specific renal adjustment established (renal-impairment data are limited in this young population). Hepatic impairment, not renal, carries label dose guidance.

Dialyzability & ESKD dosing

Highly protein-bound oral small molecule; dialyzability not characterized and not clinically relevant in this indication. No ESKD dosing data.

Differential diagnosis

In a child with rising creatinine, separate prerenal azotemia from GI volume losses (responds to fluids), MEK-related CK elevation/rhabdomyolysis (check CK), and a transporter-mediated creatinine artifact.

Monitoring

  • Creatine phosphokinase at baseline and periodically, and with myalgia
  • Serum creatinine and electrolytes, especially during diarrhea/vomiting
  • LVEF (echocardiogram) and ophthalmologic assessment per label

Key trials & series

  • SPRINT phase 1/2 (pediatric NF1 plexiform neurofibromas)
  • Gross 2023 long-term SPRINT safety update

Clinical pearls

  • In NF1, the commonest route to AKI is dehydration from diarrhea/vomiting — rehydrate early rather than reflexively stopping the drug.
  • Check CK with myalgia; asymptomatic CK elevation is a class effect.
  • Renal-specific data are thin; safety is largely extrapolated from pediatric NF1 trials where nephrotoxicity was not prominent.

Anticancer mechanism

Selective MEK1/2 inhibitor that dampens MAPK signaling driven by NF1 loss; approved for children with neurofibromatosis type 1 and symptomatic inoperable plexiform neurofibromas.

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.Long-term safety and efficacy of selumetinib in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 on a phase 1/2 trial for inoperable plexiform neurofibromas.Gross AM et al. · Neuro Oncol · 2023 · PMID 37115514
  2. 2.BRAF/MEK inhibitor-associated nephrotoxicity in a real-world setting and human kidney cells.Sanagawa A et al. · Anticancer Drugs · 2021 · PMID 34232935
  3. 3.MEK inhibitors in RASopathies.Bergqvist C et al. · Curr Opin Oncol · 2021 · PMID 33395032
  4. 4.Truth or dare: switching BRAF/MEK inhibitors after acute interstitial nephritis in a patient with metastatic melanoma - A case report and review of the literature.De Ryck L et al. · Acta Clin Belg · 2022 · PMID 35996969
  5. 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. 6.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
Educational monograph from NephTox (nephtox.com). Not medical advice — verify against current guidelines before any clinical decision.