Revised CAP Guidelines Released
The College of American Pathologists (CAP) just released updated versions of its GIST Biopsy and Resection Cancer Protocols. Why is this important? Pathologists use CAP Cancer Protocols in the process of diagnosing a disease from tumor tissue surgical samples and to prepare standardized synoptic surgical pathology reports.
The Life Raft Group, collaborating with the Pediatric & SDH-Deficient GIST Consortium and key opinion leaders among the GIST pathology community (with Brian Rubin, MD, PhD, taking the lead), played a significant role in changing these protocols.
The LRG identified that there is disparity among pathologists in the testing of certain subtypes of GIST and testing procedures (i.e. genomic testing) that were being underutilized. This pattern was observed in the LRG Patient Registry where the data illustrated that only 30% of wildtype patients had received advanced mutational testing (or SDHB staining) that was sufficient to identify their subtype of GIST.
The team collaborated on a new diagnostic algorithm that illustrated the need for wider use of targeted diagnostic procedures and submitted the algorithm to the CAP’s GIST editorial board.
We are happy to announce that the CAP has incorporated both SDHB and SDHA testing paradigms into the updated GIST protocols which were published in August 2019. Access the protocols here: https://www.cap.org/protocols-and-guidelines/cancer-reporting-tools/cancer-protocol-templates
We believe this will be a huge step forward in better diagnosing, identifying, and eventually treating many more GIST patients. We encourage other groups that advise on guidelines to follow suit. This is a great example of a patient advocacy group utilizing real world evidence derived from a patient registry to influence protocols for treatments that affect GIST patients on a large scale.
