Dr. Kasper on Imatinib in Resistant Progressive Desmoid Tumors

Bernd Kasper, MD, PhD, professor, Universitätsmedizin Mannheim, Mannheim, discusses results of a phase II study exploring the efficacy of imatinib (Gleevac) in patients with resistant progressive desmoid tumors.

The German Interdisciplinary Sarcoma Group explored imatinib in patients with desmoid tumors. Overall, results showed that imatinib had sustained activity over a treatment period of 2 years. This is the longest treatment period published thus far for this group of patients, Kasper explains.

Prior results showed that 65% of patients had stable disease at 6 months, he adds. Additionally, one of the key inclusion criteria to enroll on the trial was that patients must have had progressive disease, which underlines these meaningful results, Kasper said.