Clinical aspects of radiation nephropathy.

Small radiolabeled molecules are finding increasing clinical use for targeted radionuclide therapy. With the administration of radiolabeled small molecules, the bone marrow is not necessarily the first organ to show radiation toxicity. Rapid excretion of radioactivity through the urinary tract and the retention of radiolabeled small-protein molecules in the kidneys may expose the kidneys to radiation sufficient enough to cause toxicity--and in clinical trials, radiation toxicity of the urinary tract has become clinically relevant. The cells of the kidneys are slowly repairing cells; thus, the radiation toxicity may not be manifest for several months. The clinical and pathological features associated with radiation nephropathy, and issues particular to radiation nephropathy following targeted radionuclide therapy, are described here.