Increasing the Quality and Efficiency of Clinical Trials
The mission of the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI) is to develop and drive the adoption of practices that will increase the quality and efficiency of clinical trials.
GIST is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Overall survival in GIST patients has improved dramatically over the years. In 2019, the median Overall Survival (OS) is over 12 years when all Life Raft Group registry patients are combined. About 80% of [...]
The Magic of Clinical Trial Math
How to Make 2/3 = 1 (100%) In a recent discussion about the frequency of mutations in GIST, we noted that the most common mutation is KIT exon 11, which makes up about 2/3 [...]
New Technology Developed Which Can Predict GIST Patient’s Response to Drugs with Amazing Accuracy
Researchers have developed a test that can accurately identify over 20% of GIST patients that are unlikely to respond to currently approved treatments. In addition, it can identify which patients need a higher dose [...]
Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Announces the Start of Phase 3 Clinical Trial with DCC-2618 in GIST
On January 4th, 2018 Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc, announced the start of the Phase 3 INVICTUS trial. This randomized trial is for 4th line GIST patients that have failed (or are intolerant) the [...]
Why Do Cancer Patients Join Clinical Trials?
At the most basic level, cancer patients join clinical trials because of perceived value and perceived cost. In this context, perceived cost refers to more than just financial cost, although that is important. Perceived [...]
Clinical Trials Offer Hope for GIST Patients
The Life Raft Group Clinic Trials Database currently lists 31 trials that are open that are or could be of interest to GIST patients. Many of the most interesting of these new drugs are [...]
In the beginning…Patient-reported outcomes
Patient-reported outcomes is a buzz-phase that we hear a lot these days. At the Life Raft Group, I was recently in a meeting where we were discussing patient-reported outcomes, the LRG registry and patient-powered [...]
This is Not the End – A Survivor’s Story
A story about a cancer survivor recently appeared in the Washington Post: “This is not the end; Using immunotherapy and a genetic glitch to give cancer patients hope”. The story is about a young [...]
Clinical Registry Study Planned by ASCO
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is planning its first-ever clinical registry study, the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR). ASCO plans should increase patient access to off-label drugs and match patients with [...]