Results of the study published in The New England Journal of Medicine indicated that the drug inhibits bone formation and resorption, a process known as bone remodeling, says Reuters.
But spokesman for drugs' maker Novartis AG said company has not found similar adverse effects in a large database it keeps of clinical trials and post-marketing data, though the study was enough to warrant further research.
The side effect was detected by Dr. Ellin Berman and colleagues at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York after some patients on the drug developed low levels of serum phosphate, a mineral important in bone formation.
The new finding was based on just 16 patients with low mineral levels, and the full significance of the discovery has yet to be ascertained, the company noted.
Glivec, known as Gleevec in U.S., was approved 5 years ago. The drug has transformed life expectancy for people with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).
