Young GISTers cross country lines to get together
My name is Stacey McAully and for those of you who don't know, I was the first pediatric diagnosis of GISTs in Scotland. I have had 2 serious surgeries and was on Gleevec for [...]
LRG Canada’s first webcast a success
Getting the "GIST" of gastrointestinal stromal tumors Written by David Josephy The Life Raft Group has been pioneering the development of GIST online resources since its inception. Life Raft Group Canada relies heavily on the internet to overcome [...]
Over 100 attend 3rd national Italian GIST meeting
Written by Gabriella Tedone The Third National Italian Meeting of A.I.G. (Associazione Italiana GIST) was held at Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori (INT), in Milan on Saturday, February 27, 2010. For the 99 patients and [...]
LRG meets in Mexico!
Researchers and staff from the Life Raft Group and representatives from Mexico’s science and medical community came together to commit to their mission of improving the survival of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) patients in Latin [...]
Varmus sworn in as NCI’s 14th director
Nobel Prize winner Harold E. Varmus, M.D., took the oath of office to become the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) 14th director in July 2010. NCI is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers that comprise the [...]
Three girls are going to skydive for GIST!
Written by Stacey McAully My name is Stacey and most of you will have seen us in the April edition of the newsletter. I have always known I have wanted to do something to raise money [...]
Norman & Anita meet with Dutch GISTers in Amsterdam
The following excerpt has been reprinted from an article in the Contactgroep GIST newsletter,“Van GISTeren naar morgen” with permission. Norman Scherzer, the American who founded the Life Raft Group ten years ago, stayed with his [...]
Synta opens phase II trial STA-9090 in GIST
STA-9090 is a synthetic, small molecule HSP90 inhibitor. It has a unique chemical structure different from earlier HSP-90 inhibitors that, like IPI-504, are first generation drugs based on a family of antibiotics called ansamycins. As a result, STA-9090 is likely to have a different toxicity profile.
February 2010 clinical trials update
Written by Jim Hughes Updated five year adjuvant Gleevec trial: Phase II now open at 21 sites in the United States. NCT00867113 Updated MP470 trial in solid malignancies: Phase I updated to Ongoing as of 11/3/2009. NCT00894894 Added [...]
From bench to bedside and back again
GIST is a great example of how science can impact outcomes in cancer patients. As a malignancy, GIST has fewer changes in its genes than many other cancers. Thus, the discovery by Hirota and colleagues in 1998 that GIST contained mutations in the KIT gene was a breakthrough for the treatment of GIST. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as imatinib and sunitinib that target KIT, as well as PDGFRA, have significantly improved the outcomes for patients with GIST. Clinicians at the bedside of their patients have seen the impact of these drugs and have also had to face the challenges of what to do when therapy doesn’t work. How might we do better?