Therapeutic drug monitoring of imatinib--new data strengthen the case.

A population pharmacokinetic study of imatinib in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumor by Eechoute and colleagues has shown a significant increase in drug clearance over the first 3 months of treatment, resulting in a 30% decrease in drug exposure. This finding clearly shows the possibility of pharmacokinetic resistance in this disease. ©2012 AACR