LONDON/ZURICH (Reuters), May 12 - Glivec (imatinib), which has dramatically improved survival prospects for some cancer patients, can interfere with bone development, according to U.S. researchers.
Results of a study published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine indicated that the drug inhibits bone formation and resorption -- a process known as bone remodeling.
Novartis has not found similar adverse effects in a large database it keeps of clinical trials and postmarketing data, though the study is interesting enough to warrant further research, said a spokesman for the drug maker Novartis AG.
"We have done a review of our safety database.... We're not seeing reporting of these adverse events. But we will be conducting further studies to better understand," he said.
The side effect was detected by Dr. Ellin Berman and colleagues at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York after some patients on the drug developed low levels of serum phosphate, a mineral important in bone formation.
The new finding was based on just 16 patients with low mineral levels, and the full significance of the discovery has yet to be ascertained, the company noted.
Glivec, or Gleevec as it is known in the U.S., was approved five years ago. The drug has transformed life expectancy for people with chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). Five years of use shows patients taking Glivec have a 90% survival rate.
The bone problem is mentioned as an infrequent side effect in prescription information, Novartis said, but the results of the study in which this occurred were not clinically significant.
Last Updated: 2006-05-11 11:57:52 -0400 (Reuters Health)
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![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnieeurope.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
