Patients with GIST who received sunitinib using a flexible dose approach to manage adverse events remained on treatment longer than those who received the strict dose/schedule and exhibited better clinical outcomes (longer time to tumor progression and longer overall survival).
When your blood doesn't have enough healthy red blood cells or have enough hemoglobin, you can tire quickly or feel weak. This condition is called anemia. The fatigue that comes with anemia can lead to a decreased quality of life. Some fatigue is not related to anemia. Anemia has three broad causes; blood loss, decreased blood cell production and increased blood cell destruction. The first two are the most relevant for GIST patients.
Stivarga comes in 40 mg tablets. Once opened, it must be used within 28 days. Stivarga must be stored in the bottle that it comes in, the desiccant must remain in the bottle; keep bottle tightly sealed. Do not store in a daily or weekly pill box.
Many new cancer drugs are entering clinical practice and clinical trials. Many GIST patients are no longer responding to Gleevec or Sutent and thus are looking for clinical trials. Understanding strategies and grouping these new drugs into classes with other similar drugs may help patients understand some of their choices.
You may not have noticed, but the clinical trials section of the website has changed dramatically in the last month. This section of the website is now database-driven and has a lot more information.
The new treatment uses T cells, a type of immune cell that are taken from the patient’s body, genetically modified and then reinfused into the patient. These modified T cells are called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells. In previous trials with these modified T cells, tumor responses have been modest and they did not persist for long enough after being re-introduced into the patient. Using this second generation CAR T cell, Dr. Carl June and his colleagues at Penn obtained long-lasting persistence once the cells were re-introduced.
A new gene panel takes mutation testing to a new level. The panel tests for mutations in 23 genes at once will help to properly classify wild-type GIST patients. Working with next generation sequencing [...]
A new phase I/II clinical trial will soon be opening for pediatric and young adults with GIST. This trial will be testing Sutent (sunitinib), the currently approved second-line treatment for GIST, in young patients. At the current time, the optimal dose for Sutent is not known for pediatric patients. This trial will help assess the safety and tolerability of Sutent in young patients.
One of the highlights of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference was the session “Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors: Multimodal Approach.” George Demetri M.D. began the discussion with a review of the history and biology of GIST. Dr. Demetri reviewed the current status of GIST and brought up some new challenges ahead.
Written by Jennifer Wright April, 2011 - This article is a summary of “Defects in succinate dehydrogenase in gastrointestinal stromal tumors lacking KIT and PDGFRA mutations” in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [...]
