Inoperable c- kit negative gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is commonly considered to be highly resistant to systemic therapy. We present a case of a woman with an abdominal sarcomalike tumor diagnosed at the age of 26. The patient underwent several surgical procedures and courses of cytostatic therapy without any substantial effect. Later, the tumor was reclassified as c- kit negative GIS...

Background Imatinib mesylate, a small-molecular analog of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) that potently inhibits tyrosine kinase activities of Bcr–Abl, PDGFR-β, PDGFR-α, c-Fms, Arg and c-kit, is one of the novel molecularly targeted drugs being introduced into cancer therapy. We tested the effect of imatinib on the ovarian histological structure and the concentration of estrogen and progesterone, ...

KEY WORDS: Imatinib mesylate Polycythemia Vera Myeloproliferative disorder Myeloproliferative neoplasm Tyrosine kinase inhibitor Myelosuppressive therapy

Imatinib mesylate (Glivec®; Novartis, Basel, Switzerland), a protein kinase inhibitor of the BCR–ABL fusion protein, has demonstrated significant clinical efficacy in the treatment of Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Imatinib mesylate (hereinafter shortly referred to as imatinib) produces durable responses and prolonged survival; therefore, it has become the...

Imatinib mesylate is remarkably effective in treating chronic myeloid leukemia and metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Meanwhile, anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) remains a fatal malignancy for which there are currently no effective curative interventions. In chronic myeloid leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors, imatinib inhibits the constitutive tyrosine kinase activity of BC...

Imatinib mesylate is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of c-KIT and PDGFRA. Imatinib mesylate is an effective drug that can be used as a first-choice agent for treatment of GISTs. Prior to treatment, molecular diagnosis of c-KIT or PDGFRA is necessary; however, in some types of GISTs, it is impossible to obtain a sufficient amount of specimen for diagnosis. An inoperable or marginally resectable GIST...

Patients with idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) show persistent hypereosinophilia of unknown etiology that is associated with end-organ damage. Different treatments, including the use of corticosteroids and cytotoxics, have been investigated for HES with modest success. We report a young patient with HES who developed stroke and remained refractory to conventional therapy. Therapy wit...

Extra-gastrointestinal stromal tumors (EGISTs) are rare. We describe a 69-year-old man with a 9-year history of hemodialysis. This patient was diagnosed as having peritoneal tumors measuring over 10 cm in length. Histologically, the tumors were composed of monomorphic spindle cells. The number of mitotic figures was 5 per 50 high-power fields. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed strong positi...

PURPOSE The ATP-binding cassette protein ABCG2 (breast cancer resistance protein) effluxes some of the photosensitizers used in photodynamic therapy (PDT) and, thus, may confer resistance to this treatment modality. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) can block the function of ABCG2. Therefore, we tested the effects of the TKI imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) on photosensitizer accumulation and in vitr...