Monday, July 24, 2006

Gleevec (Cancer Med): May Lead To Heart Failure

While effectively treating cancer, Gleevec can lead to heart failure in some patients, said Dr. Thomas Force, who teaches medicine at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

The study can be found in the journal Nature Medicine. The study was prompted by reports that ten patients taking Gleevec for chronic myelogenous leukemia developed severe congestive heart failure.

Gleevec (also sold under the name Glivec)had sales of $1.2 billion in the first six months of this year.