Imatinib does not induce cardiac left ventricular failure in gastrointestinal stromal tumours patients: Analyis of EORTC-ISG-AGITG study 62005

Recent publications have suggested that imatinib (Glivec) may be cardiotoxic. We have therefore assessed the largest study on the agent performed in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumours, randomising a daily dose of 400 mg versus 800 mg. 946 Patients were entered, 942 patients received at least one dose of imatinib. The median time on treatment was 24 months. A total of 24,574 exposure months could be analysed. We could not identify an excess of cardiac events in the study population. In 2 patients (0.2%) a possible cardiotoxic effect of imatinib could not fully be excluded.The current analysis of a large randomised prospective study could not confirm previous suggestions of imatinib induced cardiac toxicity.