and management of haemorrhage in all patients should be applied.
Due to the possible occurrence of tumour lysis syndrome (TLS), correction of clinically significant dehydration and treatment of high uric acid levels are recommended prior to initiation of Glivec (see section 4.8).
Laboratory tests
Complete blood counts must be performed regularly during therapy with Glivec. Treatment of CML patients with Glivec has been associated with neutropenia or thrombocytopenia. However, the occurrence of these cytopenias is likely to be related to the stage of the disease being treated and they were more frequent in patients with accelerated phase CML or blast crisis as compared to patients with chronic phase CML. Treatment with Glivec may be interrupted or the dose may be reduced, as recommended in section 4.2.
Liver function (transaminases, bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase) should be monitored regularly in patients receiving Glivec.
In patients with impaired renal function, imatinib plasma exposure seems to be higher than that in patients with normal renal function, probably due to an elevated plasma level of alpha-acid glycoprotein (AGP), an imatinib-binding protein, in these patients. Patients with renal impairment should be given the minimum starting dose. Patients with severe renal impairment should be treated with caution. The dose can be reduced if not tolerated (see section 4.2 and 5.2).
Children and adolescents
There have been case reports of growth retardation occurring in children and pre-adolescents receiving imatinib. The long-term effects of prolonged treatment with imatinib on growth in children are unknown. Therefore, close monitoring of growth in children under imatinib treatment is recommended (see section 4.8).
4.5 Interaction with other medicinal products and other forms of interaction
Active substances that may increase imatinib plasma concentrations:
Substances that inhibit the cytochrome P450 isoenzyme CYP3A4 activity (e.g. ketoconazole, itraconazole, erythromycin, clarithromycin) could decrease metabolism and increase imatinib concentrations. There was a significant increase in exposure to imatinib (the mean Cmax and AUC of imatinib rose by 26% and 40%, respectively) in healthy subjects when it was co-administered with a single dose of ketoconazole (a CYP3A4 inhibitor). Caution should be taken when administering Glivec with inhibitors of the CYP3A4 family.
Active substances that may decrease imatinib plasma concentrations:
Substances that are inducers of CYP3A4 activity could increase metabolism and decrease imatinib plasma concentrations. Co-medications which induce CYP3A4 (e.g. dexamethasone, phenytoin, carbamazepine, rifampicin, phenobarbital, fosphenytoin, primidone or Hypericum perforatum, also known as St. John's Wort) may significantly reduce exposure to Glivec, potentially increasing the risk of therapeutic failure. Pretreatment with multiple doses of rifampicin 600 mg followed by a single 400 mg dose of Glivec resulted in decrease in Cmax and AUC(0-) by at least 54% and 74%, of the respective values without rifampicin treatment. Similar results were observed in patients with malignant gliomas treated with Glivec while taking enzyme-inducing anti-epileptic drugs (EIAEDs) such as carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine and phenytoin. The plasma AUC for imatinib decreased by 73% compared to patients not on EIAEDs. Concomitant use of rifampicin or other strong CYP3A4 inducer |
