Cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury (CIA) is a serious adverse event that affects 20–40% of exposed patients, despite any implemented precaution to avoid it. The aim of this work was therefore to identify a relevant nephroprotective method for CIA.

We searched Pubmed, Embase, and Web of Science from 1 January 1978 to 1 June 2018, without language restriction. All studies (observational and interventional) assessing a CIA prevention method for adults receiving at least one course of cisplatin were eligible. The primary outcome was acute nephrotoxicity, as defined by the AKI-KDIGO classification (2012). The odds ratio and corresponding 95% confidence interval were used to assess the associations. We used narrative synthesis in case of heterogeneity regarding intervention, population, or outcome. When possible, a random-effects model was used to pool studies. The heterogeneity between studies was quantified (I²), and multiple meta-regressions were carried out to identify potential confounders.

Within 4520 eligible studies, 51 articles fulfilling the selection criteria were included in the review, assessing 21 different prevention methods. A meta-analysis could only be performed on the 15 observational studies concerning magnesium supplementation (1841 patients), and showed a significant nephroprotective effect for all combined grades of CIA (OR 0.24, [0.19–0.32], I² = 0.0%). This significant nephroprotective effect was also observed for grades 2 and 3 CIA (OR 0.22, [0.14–0.33], I² = 0.0% and OR 0.25, [0.08–0.76], I² = 0.0%, respectively).

While no method of prevention had so far demonstrated its indisputable efficacy, our results highlight the potential protective effect of magnesium supplementation on cisplatin-induced acute nephrotoxicity.

This study is registered in PROSPERO, CRD42018090612.