Predictive significance of changes in haemoglobin level following imatinib treatment in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumour

A retrospective observational study involving 79 patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors evaluated the predictive value of hemoglobin decrease following imatinib treatment. Patients experiencing decreased hemoglobin levels (44.3%) demonstrated significantly better progression-free survival (PFS) compared to those without a decline (43.0 months vs. 22.0 months). This decrease, identified as a predictive on-target toxicity, remained an independent predictive factor for PFS.