Merit Research Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences (ISSN: 2354-323X) Vol. 8(10) pp. 600-604, October, 2020
Available online http://www.meritresearchjournals.org/mms/index.htm
Copyright © 2020 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article
Case Report
Imatinib Induced Bullous Pemphigoid as a Late Toxicity: A
possible Need for Post Treatment Follow-Up?
Walid Shalata
1*
, Ala Eddin Neime
2
, Raul Bitran
1
, Abu Saleh Omar
3
, Roxana D. Grinberg
1
,
Ismaell Massalha
1
, Alexander Yakobson
1
, Kayed Al-Athamen
4
, Itai Levy
4
Abstract
1
The Legacy Heritage Oncology Center
and Dr. Larry Norton Institute, Soroka
Medical Center & Ben-Gurion University,
Beer-Sheva, Israel
2
Department of Internal Medicine, Soroka
University Medical Center, Faculty of
Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University
of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
3
Department of Dermatology and
Venereology, The Emek Medical Centre,
Afula, Israel.
4
Department of Hematology, Soroka
University Medical Center, Faculty of
Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University
of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
*Corresponding Author's Email:
walid.shalata@gmail.com
Cell: +972 (0)54 2967100.
The novel use of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKI´s) has shown to be a major
breakthrough in the treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML). It has opened
the doors for TKIs use in a series of neoplasms with success rates previously unheard
of. Nevertheless, its use is not free of adverse effects. Skin, gastro-intestinal and
central nervous systems arethe most affected, among which autoimmune response
can be observed with a higher incidenceintreated populations. Here we report the
case of a patient who presented a rare autoimmune disease, bullous pemphigoid,
which wasn’t described before as one of the adverse effects (early or late), most
probably as a therapy-related adverse effect two years after stopping Imatinib®
treatment.
Keywords: Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKI's),
Bullous Pemphigoid (BP), Imatinib
INTRODUCTION
Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) is a disease that
accounts for approximately 15% of the adult leukemias
and is characterized by genetic translocation of
chromosomes 9 and 22 (derivative (q34; q11)
(Philadelphia chromosome; Ph1). The most frequent
symptoms and signs include night sweats, anemia and
fatigue.As for laboratory parameters, absolute
leukocytosis with a left shift and absolute basophilia and
eosinophilia (90% of cases) are among the hematological
characteristics of this disease. CML patients can be
found in one of three phases of disease: chronic phase,
accelerated phase and blastic phase. Most patients
(85%) will be diagnosed in the chronic phase (Quintás-
Cardama and Cortes, 2006; Thompson et al., 2015).
The tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI's) were first
approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in
2001 when Imatinib® entered the market for CML
treatment. Their mechanism of action isbased mainly in
the inhibition of specific trans-membrane tyrosine kinase
peptide receptors (blockage of domain trans-activation
and subsequent target protein phosphorylation).This
blockage results in the inhibition of the activity of CML´s
fusion product (BCR/ABL), better known as the
Philadelphia chromosome. Several studies have shown
improvement in results while treating with a TKI, with
reported long-term progression of both free disease
progrssion and overall survival (Thompson et al., 2015;
Chrobák and Voglová, 2019).