Imatinib (IMT)

Imatinib is atyrosine-kinase inhibitor used in the treatment of multiple cancers, most notably Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Like all tyrosine-kinase inhibitors, imatinib works by preventing a tyrosine kinase enzyme, in this case BCR-Abl, fromphosphorylating subsequent proteins and initiating the signalling cascade necessary for cancer development, thus preventing the growth of cancer cells and leading to their death by apoptosis. Because the BCR-Abl tyrosine kinase enzyme exists only in cancer cells and not in healthy cells, imatinib works as a form of targeted therapy—only cancer cells are killed through the drug's action. In this regard, imatinib was one of the first cancer therapies to show the potential for such targeted action, and is often cited as a paradigm for research in cancer therapeutics.