It’s #TimeToGetTested
Understanding the role of mutations and biomarker testing is one of most important things patients must learn. Uncovering the driving force behind each individual’s tumors is not just important, it is critical. Biomarker testing is an opportunity to improve and optimize treatment – possibly avoiding unnecessary treatments and getting to the right treatment sooner. Currently, biomarker testing rates in the gastrointestinal stromal tumor patient population are relatively poor – only about 26.7% of patients have had testing done. The Life Raft Group Patient Registry, which is a group of extremely proactive patients, notes only about 53% of patients are aware of their mutation.
This is why the LRG is launching the It’s Time campaign. It is time to stop talking and take action to assure patients get tested. The goals of this campaign are to improve the understanding of biomarker testing in the cancer community and increase the number of patients tested.
In this post, Blueprint Medicines shares some useful tools.
It’s time to recognize the value of a more precise diagnosis!
Blueprint Medicines, creators of avapritinib or Ayvakit (approved for treatment in PDGFRA exon 18 mutations January 9, 2020), supports biomarker/mutational testing for all GIST patients. Knowing your mutation will help your doctor choose the right treatment for your type of GIST.
Blueprint has created a worksheet that will help you to talk to your doctor about advanced testing.
Click on the visual below to download a pdf for printing.
If you would like to talk to someone about mutational testing, please contact our Director of the Life Raft Group Patient Registry, Denisse Montoya at dmontoya@liferaftgroup.org
Special thanks to the sponsors of this initiative:
