Hey guys, there are multiple causes of acute kidney injury in a cancer patient, namely sepsis, metastasis, tumor lysis syndrome, etc. But there is another reason which we often overlook, which is drug-induced.
1. Thrombotic microangiopathy: Associated with agents targeting vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF), eg., Ranibizumab, Bevacizumab. These drugs also block the angiogenesis in the glomerular vasculature, such that the injured endothelium isn't replaced, leading to multiple foci of platelet aggregations just like in TTP and HUS.
2. Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis: Associated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors are the most common and are frequently associated with acute kidney injury.
3. Acute Interstitial Nephritis:
The checkpoint inhibitors ipilimumab, nivolumab, and pembrolizumab activate host T cells to enhance tumor killing by preventing tumor ligand binding to cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 and programmed death 1 receptors, which deactivate T cells. However, this effect causes loss of self-tolerance (and perhaps tolerance to other drugs), leading to various forms of autoimmune injury, including acute interstitial nephritis, which is associated with moderate-to-advanced-stage acute kidney injury.
That's all!
-VM
