Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 22, 2026
Robotic Duodenal Sleeve Resection for Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor with Rare Exon 8 KIT Mutation Following Neoadjuvant Imatinib
Published on: April 3, 2026
Imatinib-induced liver cirrhosis in a patient with advanced gastrointestinal stroma tumor (GIST)
Christoph Seidel1, Martin Fenner, Florian Länger
1Department of Hematology, Hemostasis, Oncology and Stem cell transplantation, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg Strasse 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. seidel.christoph@mh-hannover.de
Background:
The use of imatinib mesylate is associated with a progression free survival of 41 months in first line treatment of metastatic or locally advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) and other studies approved that adjuvant imatinib treatment improves the recurrence-free survival in patients with GIST. Current recommendations include 1 year adjuvant treatment in GIST patients at risk but active studies explore different durations of treatment with an interval of up to 5 years. While the most frequent adverse events (AEs) are blood count alterations, abdominal discomfort and edema, the occurrence of grade 3 or 4 increase of AST or ALT is specified with 2.1% and 2.7% respectively.
Case Presentation:
We report a 49-year old male with a gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) of the small bowel who developed liver cirrhosis under adjuvant imatinib treatment.
Conclusions:
Our report supports the notion that imatinib-induced hepatotoxicity may lead to acute liver damage with subsequent cirrhotic remodelling. Patients developing grade 3 or 4 hepatotoxicity during imatinib treatment should therefore be carefully evaluated for chronic liver disease.
