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Pre-clinical Evaluation of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors for Treatment of Acute Leukemia
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Published on: September 18, 2013

Ocular side-effects associated with imatinib mesylate (Gleevec)

Frederick W Fraunfelder1, Jonathan Solomon, Brian J Druker

  • 1Casey Eye Institute, Portland OR 97201, USA. eyedrug@ohsu.edu

Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics : the Official Journal of the Association for Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics
|September 11, 2003
PubMed

Insights

Imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) commonly causes ocular side effects like periorbital edema and epiphora in cancer patients. Management is typically conservative for these Gleevec side effects.

Area of Science:

  • Ophthalmology
  • Pharmacology
  • Oncology

Background:

  • Imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor used in cancer therapy.
  • Ocular side effects associated with imatinib mesylate are not fully characterized.
  • Understanding these adverse reactions is crucial for patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe ocular side effects of imatinib mesylate.
  • To detail the clinical characteristics of these adverse reactions.
  • To classify the likelihood of various ocular side effects.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective case series of 104 patients on imatinib mesylate.
  • Chart review at Oregon Health & Science University's Cancer Center.
  • Review of spontaneous reports (FDA, WHO) and Medline literature search.

Main Results:

  • 70% of patients developed periorbital edema; 18% developed epiphora.
  • Periorbital edema occurred at an average of 68 days post-initiation.
  • WHO classification: Certain - periorbital edema; Probable - epiphora.

Conclusions:

  • Periorbital edema and epiphora are the most frequent ocular side effects of imatinib mesylate.
  • Clinical characteristics of imatinib-induced periorbital edema are described.
  • Ocular side effect management is generally conservative.

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