A common breast-cancer drug makes kidneys look worse than they are — a simple extra test can tell the truth

A blood marker called creatinine is the standard way to check kidney health, and it rises in almost everyone taking the breast-cancer drug abemaciclib — often prompting fears of kidney damage and cuts to an effective treatment. Following 63 patients at Shinshu University Hospital in Japan, researchers showed the rise usually reflects the drug blocking a kidney transporter, not damaging the kidney itself. A second marker, cystatin C, measured before treatment starts, gives each patient a personal reference point so doctors can tell a false alarm from a real problem. The study is published in Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation