Submitted October 2, 2007
Accepted February 8, 2008
The effects of imatinib on pregnancy outcome
Seonaid M Pye*, Jorge Cortes, Patricia Ault, Alan Hatfield, H. Kantarjian, Richard Pilot, Gianantonio Rosti, and Jane F Apperley
Division of Investigative Science, Department of Haematology, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom
Department of Leukemia, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
Novartis Pharmaceuticals, East Hanover, NJ, United States
Hematology, Institute of Hematology and Medical Oncology "Seragnoli", Bologna, Italy
* Corresponding author; email: s.pye{at}imperial.ac.uk.
Imatinib has now been in use for almost 10 years. Despite this cumulative experience, little is known about its effects on pregnancy and as a result there are few published data to facilitate the counselling of women who conceive whilst taking imatinib. The results we now present provide information which may be of use in such circumstances. Of 180 women exposed to imatinib during pregnancy outcome data are available for 125 (69%). Of those with known outcomes 50% delivered normal infants and 28% underwent elective terminations, 3 following the identification of abnormalities. There were a total of 12 infants in whom abnormalities were identified, 3 of which had strikingly similar complex malformations that are clearly a cause for concern. It appears that although the majority of pregnancies exposed to imatinib are likely to have a successful outcome, there remains a risk that exposure may result in serious fetal malformations.
