April 2012
- LRG mourns the loss of a great friend, Jeroen Pit
- GDOL Update: Speakers announced
- LRG Research Team meets in Leuven, Belgium: leaves with renewed energy & commitment to finding the cure for GIST
- Meet our new Montana local rep: Dirk Niebaum
- Cellular origin of GIST from the “good” cells’ perspective
- Alianza GIST meets in Miami
- And they’re off! 1st ‘Harness a Cure’ is a success
- NJ GIST gathering serves up support & smoothies
- NoCal GISTers meet!
- New report finds most hospital errors go unreported
- Happy Cancerversary to Brenda Bannon!
- Thomas G. Overley, 1952-2012: Toledo lawyer played guitar, sang in group
- Durham lived life with passion and pride
- Did You Hear? Did You Know?
- Arizona GISTers meet!
- Spunky Texan fought GIST bravely
- Calendar
Archive
March 2009
Italian GISTers gather en masse for the second time, drug options and adjuvant therapy among key topics
On the February 21, the A.I.G. (Associazione Italiana GIST) held its second annual General Meeting at the NCI (Istituto Dei Tumori) in Milan, Italy. The event was fabulous, and we had a great turn out. Patients and caregivers benefited from the information about GIST treatments, medical therapy in advanced disease, side-effects management, drug interactions, role of imaging, stress management of GIST patients and social problems like health insurance, work problems and the cancer patient’s legal rights.
Another positive aspect of the event was discovering how wellinformed Italian GISTers are about their disease, and Dr. Paolo Casali (Head of the Adult Sarcoma Medical Unit at NCI-Milan) highlighted how the patient community worldwide plays an outstanding role in claiming patient’s rights and even in conducting research.
Some of the topics of focus were:
- Drugs for GIST (approved drugs/off label drugs/new trials)
- Gleevec plasma testing
- Gleevec as adjuvant therapy
- Imatinib, Sunitinib, Nilotinib, RAD001, PKT787, Sorafenib, Dasatinib, Perifosine, Masitinib, PKC412, IPI504 (will be activated as a phase III trial in the near future).
- The European Medicines Agency is about to examine Gleevec as adjuvant therapy. According to Dr. Casali, there is currently a European study to establish the time to secondary resistance. In the last decade, GIST has been redefined and in a few months we will have the data of the retrospective study concerning the natural history of this disease, based on the molecular analysis of a thousand patients.
It was very pleasant for all of the GISTers to meet each other, who we have known through our forum. We also spent a wonderful evening before the event having a nice pizza party.
Thursday 4 August, 2011
Also I believe that mesothelioma cancer is a rare form of many forms of cancer that is often found in people previously familiar with asbestos. Cancerous cellular material form within the mesothelium, which is a safety lining that covers the majority of the body's internal organs. These cells generally form from the lining of the lungs, abdomen, or the sac that really encircles one's heart. Thanks for discussing your ideas.
Wednesday 3 August, 2011
Thursday 16 June, 2011
Sunday 29 May, 2011
Wednesday 20 April, 2011
Wednesday 18 March, 2009