Gambacorti-Passerini C, Tornaghi L, Cavagnini F, Rossi P,
Pecori-Giraldi F, Mariani L, et al. Gynaecomastia in men
with chronic myeloid leukaemia after imatinib. Lancet 2003;
361:1954 – 1956.
As Dr Baccarani reported, there were reports from a number of years ago about this phenomenon. Subsequently we reported a case of unusual fluid retention in breast tissue in women (Ostro D, Lipton JH (2007) Unusual Fluid Retention with Imatinib Therapy for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. Leuk Lymph 48: 195-6)
I think the first case series above looks at a number of endocrinologic aspects of the work up that should be considered. It is however necessary to distinguish between legitimate gynecomastia and unusal manifestations of fluid retention.
If it turns out to be imatinib related, then the only therapy if disconcerting enough, but be a switch in medications. In the case of the fluid retention, we did not find that aggressive diuretic therapy was effective. In fact the patient in question, went on to cosmetic breast reduction therapy, and then recurred as would be expected, post surgery, a phenomenon that has been reported with blepheroplasty under similar circumstances.