hi.. i am on gleevec from last 1 year. my skin is lightened too much. i am of indian orgin and it is quite visible. will this side effect be permanent i.e. till the time i am on gleeve? has anyone else experienced this?
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Hi and welcome to this forum.
Regarding hypo pigmentation of the skin. It seems from a fairly quick look at the articles available, that this is a reported side effect of imatinib and is probably dose related. It seems it is reversible when imatinib is replaced by another TKI therapy. If it is a problem for you because as you say it is very noticeable, then you could ask for your treatment to be changed to another TKi depending on which one's are available in your region.
See below for the article I have taken this quote from:
http://medind.nic.in/ibi/t06/i1/ibit06i1p66.pdf
"In conclusion, we highlight an interesting dermatological effect—the generalized hypopigmentation, owing to imatinib mesylate that was noticed in 80% of our patients of CML. Although a cosmetic problem, it does not pose a substantial medical hazard and does not appear to predict the leukemic cell response or clinical outcome."
Sandy