How cancer immunotherapy can cause sudden or lasting kidney damage
Official title: Mechanisms driving acute and chronic kidney function decline after immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for cancer
Funded at Massachusetts General Hospital · NIH-11332839 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project aims to learn why some people who get immune checkpoint inhibitor cancer drugs develop sudden or long-term kidney problems.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Massachusetts General Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | May 1, 2022 |
| Project end | April 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $647,716 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DK130839-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11332839 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people who received immune checkpoint inhibitors and then developed acute interstitial nephritis confirmed by kidney biopsy or had acute kidney injury after these drugs.
✕Less likely to help
People whose kidney disease is clearly due to other causes unrelated to immune checkpoint inhibitors (for example longstanding diabetic kidney disease or a non-ICI medication) are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
If you had kidney problems after cancer immunotherapy, researchers would enroll you and collect kidney biopsy tissue plus blood and urine samples. They will examine individual cells' gene activity using single-cell RNA sequencing to see which immune cells and pathways are causing damage. The team compares people with biopsy-proven immune-related kidney injury to those with other types of kidney injury after these drugs to find distinguishing patterns. The goal is to identify mechanisms that could point to better tests or treatments to prevent ongoing kidney decline.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal the immune pathways that drive kidney injury after immunotherapy and point to tests or targeted treatments to prevent or slow long-term kidney decline.
How similar studies have gone: Prior descriptive studies have reported strong T-cell activity in immune-related kidney injuries, but applying paired single-cell RNA sequencing of kidney, blood, and urine is a newer, more detailed approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sise, Meghan E. — Massachusetts General Hospital
- Study coordinator: Sise, Meghan E.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.