Imatinib for secondary Ph1 acute lymphoblastic leukemia induces response in concomitant GBM Imatinib is an inhibitor of tyrosine kinase currently employed for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia and inoperable gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). Several trials [1, 2] have been conducted recently with imatinib as monotherapy for treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and preliminar results suggest a good level of efficacy in this setting. According to these observations, Dresemann [3] has reported a series of 30 patients with grade IV progressive GBM refractory to chemo- and radiotherapy treated with a combination of imatinib 400 mg once daily and hydroxyurea 500 mg twice daily. The response rate in these patients was 20%, including complete and partial responses. Clinical benefit rate was 57% and median time to progression was 10 weeks, with a median overall survival of 19 weeks. We here report the case of a a 40-year-old man affected since June 2004 by grade IV GBM. He was treated with surgical resection of a left parietal lesion and from August 2004 he started a combination treatment with radiotherapy and temozolomide. Temozolomide was administered orally at 140 mg/daily (70 mg/m 2 /daily) for five consecutive days every week, for 6 weeks. Simultaneously radiotherapy was administered at a whole dose of 60 Gy in 30 fractions of Figure 1. (A) Focal relapse of GBM during induction therapy. (B) Reduction of the size of GBM after 7 months of imatinib treatment. letters to the editor Annals of Oncology 720 | letters to the editor Volume 17 | No. 4 | April 2006