Glivec

What it's used for

Glivec is indicated for the treatment of adult and paediatric patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia-chromosome (bcr-abl)-positive (Ph+) chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) for whom bone-marrow transplantation is not considered as the first line of treatment; adult and paediatric patients with Ph+ CML in chronic phase after failure of interferon-alpha therapy, or in accelerated phase or blast crisis; adult and paediatric patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia-chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (Ph+ ALL) integrated with chemotherapy; adult patients with relapsed or refractory Ph+ ALL as monotherapy; adult patients with myelodysplastic / myeloproliferative diseases (MDS / MPD) associated with platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) gene re-arrangements; adult patients with advanced hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) and / or chronic eosinophilic leukaemia (CEL) with FIP1L1-PDGFRa rearrangement. The effect of Glivec on the outcome of bone-marrow transplantation has not been determined. Glivec is indicated for: the treatment of adult patients with Kit (CD 117)-positive unresectable and / or metastatic malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST); the adjuvant treatment of adult patients who are at significant risk of relapse following resection of Kit (CD117)-positive GIST. Patients who have a low or very low risk of recurrence should not receive adjuvant treatment; the treatment of adult patients with unresectable dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) and adult patients with recurrent and / or metastatic DFSP who are not eligible for surgery. In adult and paediatric patients, the effectiveness of Glivec is based on overall haematological and cytogenetic response rates and progression-free survival in CML, on haematological and cytogenetic response rates in Ph+ ALL, MDS / MPD, on haematological response rates in HES / CEL and on objective response rates in adult patients with unresectable and / or metastatic GIST and DFSP and on recurrence-free survival in adjuvant GIST. The experience with Glivec in patients with MDS / MPD associated with PDGFR gene re-arrangements is very limited (see section 5.1). Except in newly diagnosed chronic phase CML, there are no controlled trials demonstrating a clinical benefit or increased survival for these diseases.