February 2012
- Interstitial cells of Cajal: What are they and why should you care?
- Israel's leap from support group to proactive non-profit
- Susan Farmer looks back on a life well-lived; and forward to her garden
- NIH announces new program to develop therapeutics for rare and neglected diseases
- June 2009 clinical trials update
- Nicole Sparks and family raise over $2,700 in honor of Uncle Butch and his fellow GISTers
- Website of Worth
- Chicago-area GISTers meet
- From the mailbox
- Michigan GISTers meet at Gilda's!
- LRG announces GIST Collaborative Tissue Bank initiative
- Global GIST Network adds new GIST representative
- Calendar
June 2009
- Interstitial cells of Cajal: What are they and why should you care? by Brian Rubin, M.D. Interstitial cells of Cajal are pacemaker cells, similar to the pacemaker cells of the heart, which cause the heart to beat regularly. Interstitial cells of Cajal beat rhythmically when stimulated, which is critical to their function. They are present in the wall of the gut and facilitate communication between the nervous system and the smooth muscle of the gut wall. When the signal arrives from the nervous system to the interstitial cells of Cajal that a person has eaten, the interstitial cells of Cajal begin beating rhythmically and tell the smooth muscle cells within the wall of the gut to contract in a rhythmic and coordinated fashion.
- Israel's leap from support group to proactive non-profit by Avi Zigdon The state of Israel is small. The number of patients diagnosed as GIST patients is estimated at as little as 20 patients per year. The need of GIST patients and their families to obtain updated Hebrew information about the treatments, medications and new developments on GIST cancer-related research, has led to the development of additional tools for the use and service of GIST patients and relatives in Israel.
- Susan Farmer looks back on a life well-lived; and forward to her garden by Mark Patankin She looked just like the Susan Farmer I remembered, still in a classic preppy uniform: fuchsia ribbed turtleneck, black slacks, and of course, her ever-present string of pearls. There is no way you would know she has been fighting a difficult cancer for eight years, or that things have taken a sobering turn.
- NIH announces new program to develop therapeutics for rare and neglected diseases The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is launching the first integrated, drug development pipeline to produce new treatments for rare and neglected diseases. The $24 million program jumpstarts a trans-NIH initiative called the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases program, or TRND.
- June 2009 clinical trials update by Jim Hughes
- Nicole Sparks and family raise over $2,700 in honor of Uncle Butch and his fellow GISTers by Tricia McAleer Nicole Sparks, niece of Life Rafter Butch Eller, recently contacted the LRG to find out what she could do to help. Nicole had plenty of her own ideas and with just a little help from the LRG office, she and her family were off and running to start their fundraising in honor of their beloved Butch.
- Website of Worth The CCC or Care. Commit. Change. believes that every cancer survivor deserves the chance to receive a college education. Yet the burden of medical debt, side effects of treatment, and limited access to financial and informational resources leaves many young adult cancer survivors with little hope of attending college.
- Chicago-area GISTers meet To find out about further meetings, email Jim Hughes at tjhughes43@comcast.net.
- From the mailbox Occasionally, we get a letter that makes everyone in the office stop thinking about the task at hand for just a few moments and focus on the big picture...
- Michigan GISTers meet at Gilda's! The Michigan LRG chapter met on Saturday, May 9 at Gilda's Club in Royal Oak, Michigan.
- LRG announces GIST Collaborative Tissue Bank initiative
- Global GIST Network adds new GIST representative
- Calendar