What is imatinib used to treat?

Imatinib mesylate is approved to treat: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia in adults and children that is Philadelphia chromosome positive. In adults, it is used for disease that has recurred (come back) or is refractory (does not respond to treatment).

What is imatinib How does it work?

Imatinib is in a class of medications called kinase inhibitors. It works by blocking the action of the abnormal protein that signals cancer cells to multiply. This helps stop the spread of cancer cells.

Is imatinib a chemotherapy drug?

Imatinib, sold under the brand names Gleevec and Glivec (both marketed worldwide by Novartis) among others, is an oral chemotherapy medication used to treat cancer.

What is the brand name for imatinib?

Imatinib is a targeted cancer drug (biological therapy) and is also known by its brand name Glivec (pronounced glee-vec). It is a treatment for many different types of cancer.

How good is imatinib?

Imatinib is effective and generally well tolerated in patients with Ph+ CML. In patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase CML, imatinib was more effective than interferon-alpha plus cytarabine in preventing progression of the disease and in achieving haematological and cytogenetic responses.

How long can I take imatinib?

Optimal duration of therapy is unknown but generally imatinib should be continued for 6–9 months, after which additional tumor shrinkage is usually minor.

What is the side effects of imatinib?

More common

• Abdominal or stomach pain, cramping, burning, or tenderness.
• bleeding from wound after surgery.
• bleeding problems.
• bloating or swelling of the face, hands, lower legs, or feet.
• blood in the urine.
• bloody eye.
• bloody nose.
• blue lips and fingernails.

What happens if I stop taking imatinib?

A total of 61% of patients lost undetectable minimal residual disease at a median of 2.5 months after discontinuation of imatinib for CML; no recurrences occurred after 22 months.

What is the success rate of imatinib?

Among the patients in the imatinib group, the estimated overall survival rate at 10 years was 83.3%. Approximately half the patients (48.3%) who had been randomly assigned to imatinib completed study treatment with imatinib, and 82.8% had a complete cytogenetic response.

How long can you take imatinib?

Can imatinib be stopped?

Imatinib (IM) can safely be discontinued in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who have had undetectable minimal residual disease (UMRD) for at least 2 years. We report the final results of the Stop Imatinib (STIM1) study with a long follow-up.

What happens when you stop taking imatinib?

Is imatinib safe to use?

Older adults may be more sensitive to the side effects of this drug, especially swelling (edema). Since this drug can be absorbed through the skin and lungs and may harm an unborn baby, women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant should not handle this medication or breathe the dust from the tablets.

Can imatinib cause kidney damage?

Conclusion. The introduction of imatinib therapy in nonclinical trial CML patients is associated with potentially irreversible acute renal injury, and the long-term treatment may cause a clinically relevant decrease in the estimated GFR.

How long can you live on imatinib?

All that’s known is that most patients who have been treated with these drugs, starting in 2001 (or even before), are still alive. One large study of CML patients treated with imatinib (Gleevec®) found that about 90% of them were still alive 5 years after starting treatment.

How long can you stay on imatinib?

Can we stop imatinib?

Can imatinib cause low hemoglobin?

studied 338 patients receiving imatinib. Sixty-eight percent developed anemia (Hb levels ≤ 11 g/dL). Patients with anemia showed a trend of worse complete cytogenetic response rates and worse survival.

Can imatinib cause anemia?

Anaemia is one of the most frequent side effects observed in imatinib treated patients with GIST (90% of patients), mostly mild to moderate, while this drug is associated with severe grade 3–4 anaemia in less than 10% of patients [8].

What happens if you stop taking imatinib?