Dear Group,
I am posting this as a separate topic so it does not get lost in the thread below. Someone asked if Glivec has been linked to menopause. The first study of such a link was just published in the New England Journal of Medicine, here is a paraphrase and anyone needing the article to show their doctor, Sandy will give you my email.
"This is the first report that Gleevec can induce stoppage of the menstrual
cycle in young women. Gleevec inhibits the C-kit enzyme
and those are expressed in the ovaries so this is not entirely unexpected.
However, please remember this is one patient. A 28 year old woman went on 400mg
Gleevec after diagnosis and termination of a pregnancy. A year later, the dose
was increased to 600mg Gleevec when the woman reached CCR and PCRU. 6 months
after the increase of dose and 2 years after Gleevec start, the woman began to
have infrequent periods and finally periods stopped altogether. Tests showed a
high value for the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). In another case, a male
patient on Gleevec for hypereosinophilic syndrome had low sperm count. He was
also on high dose Gleevec. So, the authors conclude that prolonged Gleevec
treatment or high dose Gleevec impacts male and female fertility and more
studies are required. This article just appeared as a correspondence article in
the New England Journal of Medicine."
Primary Ovarian Insufficiency Associated with Imatinib Therapy
Constantinos Christopoulos, M.D., Ph.D.
Vasiliki Dimakopoulou, M.D.
Evangelos Rotas, M.D.
Amalia Fleming General Hospital
15127 Athens, Greece
Best Wishes,
Anjana