Successful pregnancy in a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia under treatment with imatinib

Contraception is recommended during imatinib therapy based on the teratogenicity data in rats. However, patients may become pregnant and here we describe a successful pregnancy and labor without any congenital anomaly in a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) under treatment with imatinib. The patient had received imatinib for 53 months before she became pregnant, with a complete cytogenetic response achieved after 6 months of therapy and a major molecular response (MMR) after 28 months. CML was in MMR at discovery of pregnancy and the fetus had been exposed to imatinib for 5 weeks. Treatment was discontinued, but MMR persisted during gestation.