Systemic Steroid Treatment for Imatinib-Associated Severe Skin Rash in Patients with Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor: A Phase II Study.

Background: To achieve optimal clinical outcomes in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), it is crucial to maintain sufficient dosing of imatinib. Skin rash is a common imatinib-associated adverse event and may affect compliance. This phase II study was conducted to evaluate whether imatinib-associated severe skin rash can be managed with systemic steroids without dose reduction or interruption of imatinib. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT03440515.

Patients And Methods: Between 2014 and 2016, 29 patients with imatinib-associated severe skin rash were enrolled. Skin rash of grade 2 with grade ≥2 pruritus or of grade 3 was considered severe. Oral prednisolone was administered 30 mg/day for 3 weeks, then tapered off over 12 weeks. The primary endpoint was treatment success rate (TSR). Treatment success was defined as maintaining imatinib for more than 15 weeks after completion of the steroid administration schedule without skin rash that led to additional steroid treatment or dose reduction or interruption of imatinib.

Results: Of the 29 patients enrolled, 22 patients with skin rash were treated successfully (TSR, 75.8%), 2 (6.9%) were evaluated as treatment failures, and 5 (17.2%) were not evaluable. The 2-year rash-free and imatinib reduction-free interval rate was 67.2% with median follow-up of 22.0 months (range, 0.4-30.3). Recurrence of severe skin rash occurred in seven patients (24.1%). Systemic steroids were well tolerated except in one patient who experienced pneumocystis pneumonia.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that imatinib-associated severe skin rash can be effectively controlled by systemic steroid treatment without interruption or dose reduction of imatinib in patients with GIST.

Implications For Practice: Imatinib has been the standard treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumor in both adjuvant and palliative settings. It is crucial to maintain sufficient dosing of imatinib to achieve optimal clinical outcomes. Imatinib commonly causes imatinib-associated skin rash, which may worsen drug compliance. This phase II study demonstrated that systemic steroids could help maintaining the efficacy of imatinib by preventing interruption or dose reduction of imatinib. The present study provides a new administration strategy of systemic steroids and its efficacy and safety data. Thus, this study can be a cornerstone to establish treatment guidelines for imatinib-associated skin rash.