By Malcolm Sutherland
Life Raft Group Canada (LRGC) held its 6th Annual GIST Day of Learning on October 21, 2-17 in Toronto.
Topics
Topics included:
- “Highlights from New Horizons GIST Conference”, presented by LRGC President David Josephy
- “Patient Self-Advocacy: An Approach to Getting the Best GIST Care”, co-presented by Laetitia Tam, LRGC Director and Liz Aguiar, GIST patient;
- “Strategies in Managing Side Effects of Oral Cancer Drugs”, presented by Alia Tawer, Oral Anticancer Phamacist from Odette Cancer Centre, Toronto
- “Investigational Drugs/Clinical Trials for GIST”, presented by Dr. Albi Razak, Site lead for Sarcoma Medical Oncology at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto and Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto.
There was an excellent turnout, with attendees from Costa Rica, Vancouver, Montreal and the Greater Toronto area. GDOL Toronto was sponsored by Pfizer, Novartis and Blueprint Medicines, all whom attended.
During the GDOL Self-Advocacy presentation, we introduced the GIST Patient Handbook, which was created by LRGC to help GIST patients take on a more active role by advocating for best care within the Canadian healthcare system. Successful GIST management is a team effort among the patients, caregiver and their healthcare team. The GIST Patient Handbook provides tips and tools to help navigate treatment and acquire important information form the patient’s healthcare team.
To access the handbook: www.liferaftgroup.ca/en/gist-patient-handbook/
We had very informative talks, engaging discussion and a fun day!
