Good morning everyone. Just wondered..Has anyone else developed an inflamed liver on Imatinib? I have Chronic myeloid leukaemia diagnosed Dec 23. Responded well to Imatinib. After 9 months blood tests indicated the Alt enzyme in the liver which shows toxicity was soaring and despite halving and then quartering meds it continúed to rise. I was taken off meds temporarily following a liver scan, had another scan and have now also sedn a liver specialist. I now need a liver biopsy to determine if there is sn underlying cause for the liver’s intolerance to the Imatinib. Meanwhile bloods being monitored very regularly while off the meds. Wondered if anyone else had experienced similar issues and what solucions there might be long term. strong text
Hi @Marinam I am glad that you have posted again.
Although it sounds from your post to be an anxious time for you.
Perhaps others can share their experiences for you.
What I can share with you, as I have had one recently, is I had a biopsy on one of my kidneys.
The instructions I was given was for a biopsy on the liver so I expect it is a similar procedure.
It was a local anaesthetic and fine for me and the main anxiety for me was waiting 6 weeks for the result.
Please do let us know how you get on with the liver specialist and then your haematologist/oncologist.
It is the waiting and not knowing that causes me anxiety and there is often a lot of that.
Really look after and be very kind to yourself.
Thank you Erica for your prompt and helpful reply. I think you are right that the results are what we are anxious about but you have put my mind at rest a bit over the procedure itself so thank you for that too. I look forward to finding out if anyone else has had this issue with the medication making the liver toxic or inflamed. I have quite enjoyed not being on meds although this isn´t really a long term prospect, it´s been a welcome break in some ways but hopefully there will be a good long term solution. Thanks again.
Good evening Erica and everyone here,
Following on from the issues I was having with my liver, it was discovered that I had a drug induced liver injury due to developing an intolerance to Imatinib after a 6 month honeymoon period. After a further six months the toxicity level was 5 times the normal figure. I was taken off Imatinib and had a two month drug break. I have now been put on anew TKI. a fifth of the full dose of Dasatinib daily with weekly blood tests to check liver function.
5 weeks in, blood tests are showing liver function is back to normal my Alt enzyme going from 580 to 20. Chronic myeloid leukaemia is under control and I have very minimal side effects, just a bit of heartburn or tummy discomfort at night, so I am feeling really positive about the change in medication and hope to be able to remain on this low dose of Dasatinib long term.
I also avoided the liver biopsy as taking me off Imatinib was enough to greatly improve liver function and the last scan showed a healthy normal liver. I must flag up too, while I had the toxic liver a GP put me on antibiotics for a skin infection and the liver toxicity results peaked. It was Amoxicillin which I now realise affects the liver. We have to be careful over combining meds for unrelated issues. I think now fortunately in my case haemotology and hepatology are communicating well. Hope this story might help anyone suffering with liver issues while on a TKI.
Best wishes