Between fifty to seventy percent of GIST patients participating in Gleevec clinical trials are reported to have edema according to the Life Raft Group survey (October, 2001) and www.gleevec.com. Edema can develop in different [...]
Mouth sores, or stomatitis as it is referred to in medical textbooks, can develop as a result of cancer treatment. There are many ways to help prevent and reduce the occurrence of mouth sores. How [...]
Increased tearing, or epiphoria, can be a side effect of your GIST treatment. There are a number of strategies to cope with increased tearing. Keep reading for more information. Here are a few strategies [...]
Hand and Foot Syndrome coping strategies. Although targeted cancer therapies are generally considered to have less side effects than traditional chemotherapy, the need to take these drugs for extended time periods (in many cases [...]
The conversations about improving clinical trials to better meet the needs of cancer patients continue, with two noteworthy arguments set forth recently. Both arguments address the need to rethink the design of clinical trials.
The Food and Drug Administration, in a much-anticipated announcement for Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor patients, has approved Bayer Pharmaceutical's drug, Stivarga, for use as a third-line treatment for advanced GIST.
The Life Raft Group surveyed patients and physicians about dosing options for the drug Sutent (sunitinib) to follow up on a 2011 study that showed that patients on a continuous dose exhibited better clinical outcomes than those on the standard four-week on, two-week off dosing regimen.
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.
KIT exon 11 and exon 9 mutations represent the two most common types of mutations (wild-type GIST is technically not a type of mutation but a lack of mutations) found in GIST patients. About 60 to 65 percent of GIST patients have a KIT exon 11 mutation and about 10 to15 percent have a KIT exon 9 mutation.
