2016 Volume 58 Issue 10 Pages 2176-2181
A 74-year-old man with chronic myelogenous leukemia receiving dasatinib presented with hematochezia. Colonoscopy showed multiple, small, aphthoid, hemorrhagic lesions covered with pale yellow exudate from the transverse colon to the rectum. Pathological examination of biopsy specimens of the lesions showed inflammatory cell infiltration into the mucosal surface with adhesion of exudate. Since an antibiotic medication for suspected intestinal infection was ineffective, we then suspected hemorrhagic colitis caused by dasatinib. Cessation of dasatinib eliminated hematochezia and improved the endoscopic findings. Although there are several reports of gastrointestinal hemorrhage as an adverse effect of dasatinib, which is a 2nd-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor, this case is considered valuable in that endoscopic findings before and after the cessation of dasatinib were observed.
