title: Inflammatory myopathy associated with imatinib mesylate therapy.
abstract: We report a patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) who developed an inflammatory myopathy while being treated with imatinib mesylate. We found serum antibodies directed against a component of the human exosome. Similar antibodies have been demonstrated in patients with CML following immune-induced remission and also are occasionally found in patients with polymyositis. It is known that the previous use of alpha-interferon followed by imatinib leads to rapid apoptosis of leukemic cells. We speculate that the subsequent release of a large bolus of leukemia antigens could have crossreactivity with muscle antigens and generate an autoimmune response.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of *Neurology, Lahey Clinic, Burlington, Massachusetts, and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts; the Department of daggerHematology/Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and the Department of double daggerNeurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Jayashri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
authors.forename: Catherine J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Anthony A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Amato