Safety outcomes of low versus high dose imatinib mesylate in patients with advanced, metastatic, or nonresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors: A systematic review

The tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib mesylate is approved for advanced metastatic and/or nonresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). With a dose escalation from 400 to 600 mg/d or 800 mg/d allowed, this study evaluates the safety outcomes, including the incidence of grade 3 adverse events with low-dose compared with high-dose. Three of the four studies did not provide significant differences in response outcomes; however, all of the studies reported a higher incidence of grade 3 AEs in the high-dose imatinib groups. The findings from this study supports further research into the maintenance of 400 mg/d for this patient population compared to a dose escalation.