Reports of CV toxicity emerge for Novartis' "wonder" anticancer drug Gleevec

New data published in the journal Nature Medicine suggest that Novartis'Gleevec (imatinib mesylate; sold in Europe as Glivec) may lead to cardiovascular complications. The team of US researchers found that 10 patients on the drug, which earned the Swiss drug major $1.2 billion in first-half 2006, developed severe congestive heart failure while further investigations in mice suggest that it leads to ventricular contractile dysfunction.

However, the study's lead investigator, Thomas Force, stressed that patients on the drug, which is used to treat rare cancers such as Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), should not stop taking it. "Gleevec is a wonderful drug and patients with these diseases need to be on it," he said.

Prof Force noted that the small but signifiacnt study was trying to call attention to the fact that Gleevec and other similar drugs in development could have considerable side effects on the heart of which clinicians need to be aware. "It's a potential problem because the number of targeted agents is growing rapidly," he noted.