“I have a question about sexual health and chemo?”
My husband is currently on Gleevec, an oral chemotherapy for GIST cancer. We have been told that I cannot get pregnant while he's on the medication, but I was wondering if it is unsafe to ingest his semen while he's on the medication as well.
Female | 39 years old
2 Answers
OncologistOncologist
This study examined whether imatinib (Gleevac) affects the fertility of men with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Researchers concluded that imatinib reduced sperm density, sperm count, sperm survival and activity when compared to healthy control participants.. Icould find no data on Gleevec concentrations per se in semen.
Hello! While there is not enough information to support a specific response to your question due to lack of study on this topic regarding percent concentration of drug in sperm, Gleevac is a cytotoxic and genotoxic product. I would not recommend secondary ingestion since adverse effects of this kind are unknown. I hope that helps and wish him the very best outcomes!
