Glivec's promising in myeloproliferative diseases?

Novartis' Glivec/Gleevec (imatinib mesylate), already approved forchronic myeloid leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors, could also be a useful therapy for the small number of patients with chronic myeloproliferative diseases, whose pathology is characterized by activation of the gene coding for platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta. Common symptoms include eosinophilia in the blood and bone marrow.

In the New England Journal of Medicine (August 15), UK and French researchers describe four such patients who were treated with 400mg Glivec per day. In all the patients, normal blood counts were achieved within four weeks of starting therapy, and one patient with long-standing and extensive skin lesions saw them start to resolve very shortly after treatment began and disappear almost completely. In addition, the responses were maintained after nine- and 12-months' follow-up.

Meanwhile, in the same issue of the NEJM, a trial report reveals that treatment with Glivec (400mg or 600mg/day) resulted in a sustained reduction in tumor size (over 50%) in more than half of patients with advanced unresectable or metatastic GISTs, although there were no complete responses.