Glivec

Imatinib mesylate is an oral small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in adults and children, as well as certain cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative diseases, aggressive systemic mastocytosis, hypereosinophilic syndrome, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, and unresectable or metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).[1][2] It functions by competitively binding to the ATP-binding site of aberrant tyrosine kinases, such as the BCR-ABL fusion protein in CML and KIT or PDGFR in GIST, thereby inhibiting downstream signaling pathways that promote uncontrolled cell proliferation.[3][4] Developed through collaborative efforts at Novartis and academic researchers, including oncologist Brian Druker, imatinib marked the first successful targeted therapy for CML, transforming a previously fatal disease into a manageable chronic condition with high rates of hematologic and cytogenetic remission upon frontline use.[5][6] FDA approval in 2001 followed phase I trials demonstrating rapid and durable responses, with subsequent studies confirming superior efficacy over interferon-alpha plus cytarabine in chronic-phase CML, achieving complete cytogenetic responses in over 70% of patients.[7][8] For GIST, imatinib induced objective responses in more than half of patients with advanced disease, previously lacking effective systemic options.[9] Long-term da