Re: Bone Effects, Cholesterol, Etc.

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I finally had a chance to read that article in the NEJM about imatinib

causing altered bone and mineral metabolism in some patients.

For those who are wondering what this hypophosphatemia (low phosphate)

can cause, according to the article: If chronic, and untreated, it can

cause impaired bone mineralization, rickets and osteomalacia (softening

of the bones).

[Personal note: This is very interesting to me considering I've had two

broken ribs while taking IM, and we never determined a cause.]

In addition, this same article touches on the lipids issue. It notes

that some patients had a decrease in plasma lipid levels shortly after

starting IM. It's been reported that some patients had a rapid reduction

in cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The article states that

inhibition of the PDGF receptor may explain this, through a certain

pathway that's complicated to explain. But it modifies the metabolism of

lipids.

So, just an FYI for those who are interested.

G.

www.cmlsupport.com