Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a chronic myelocytic leukemia patient treated with imatinib

Imatinib is an important example of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) used in clinical practice. Imatinib blocks the ATP binding site of the Bcr-Abl fusion protein and selectively inhibits Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase (TK) activity. Treatment of chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) with imatinib is encouraging and it has an acceptable toxicity profile, and as such has changed the management of CML during the last decade. As with all drugs used in clinical practice, side effects of imatinib have been reported in studies with extended follow-up periods. In addition, some neoplastic disorders have been reported to occur during imatinib therapy. Herein we present a CML case that developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) while receiving imatinib treatment.