Preseptal cellulitis, intraocular inflammatory reaction and corneal persistent epithelial defect as side effects of avapritinib.

Avapritinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor currently being investigated on clinical trials for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST). It has been recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic GIST harbouring PDGFRa Exon 18 mutation and by the European Medicines Agency for the treatments of unresectable or metastatic GIST harbouring the PDGFRa D842V mutation. We report a clinical case of a 76-year-old female, diagnosed with a stage IV GIST, treated with avapritinib 300 mg once daily. through compassionate use who experienced an intraocular side effect not previously reported avapritinib. She developed preseptal cellulitis on her right eye following 2 months of treatment with avapritinib and, subsequently evolved to an intraocular inflammatory reaction and persistent corneal epithelial defect. The treatment with avapritinib was stopped and the patient received corticosteroid and corneal regenerating agents. The symptoms resolved within 1 month and the patient has remained on stable disease at two subsequent adjusted avapritinib doses (100 mg once daily) for over 1 year.
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