Introduction: Advanced cancers that did not respond to chemotherapy were once a death sentence, but now there are newer therapies utilizing the patient's own immune system to fight cancer that are proving effective in chemotherapy-refractory malignancies. However, this success against cancer cells may be accompanied by immune-related adverse events that can affect the kidneys. Areas covered: Using Medline and Scopus, we compiled all publications through February 2019 that pertained to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPIs) and chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR T-cells). The focus of this review is the discussion of these new cancer therapies, with attention to the reported kidney-related adverse effects.. Expert opinion: Autoimmunity is repressed by molecular pathways that inhibit T-cell activation against selected antigens. These self-protective mechanisms have been appropriated by tumor cells as a means of evading immune detection and destruction. New immunotherapies such as immune checkpoint inhibitors and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy incite an aggressive immune response directed against tumor cells. This unrestrained activation of the immune system may result in kidney injury via multiple mechanisms.
Keywords: Cancer immunotherapy; acute interstitial nephritis; acute kidney injury; chimeric antigen receptor T-cells; immune checkpoint inhibitors.