My friend was DX with CML in 2006. He started on Gleevac in a clinical trial with a higher than normal dose. Almost immediately he developed an overall body rash, (except on his face) with intense itching, a high eosinophil count and a small pleural effusion. No tx seemed to be affective for this rash and the small effusion persisted for over a year. Eventually Sprycel became FDA approved and he started on this drug. After some tweaking of the dose, things seemed to be wonderful and in fact his recent molecular break down demonstrated excellent control of the CML. He is due for a bone marrow within the next 2 months. Unfortunately last week he developed SOB and an xray revealed that he had a 75% effusion in the left lung and they drained off 2 liters of fluid. An xray done within 48 hours of the thoracentesis demonstrated more fluid accumulation already. My questions are:
1~ has anyone experienced this intense rash as a side effect of gleevac?
2~ if so was there any tx that worked for you
3~ Has anyone developed an effusion that was tx related?
4~ if so, how severe and how often do you have to have them drained
5~ if you did develop a pleural effusion, did you have fluid build up around your heart!
6~ is anyone aware of any other drug out there on the horizon found to be succesful in the tx of CML?
Thanks for your help.