Pfizer Pharmaceuticals is offering Sutent in Touch, a program to support GIST patients on its drug Sutent. The program is free and patients can sign up by calling (1-877-578-8368). Sutent in Touch links patients to Oncology [...]
Your friend has been diagnosed with cancer and now suddenly you must deal with this new dynamic in your relationship. This new change of having a serious illness can make you unsure how to act.
Caring for a family member or friend with cancer who lives far away has its unique challenges. All of the usual caregiving concerns about a loved one's health and well-being may be intensified, since long-distance caregivers can't be physically present to provide care at all times.
"Acceptance – for me that means trying to live as positively and naturally as possible by thinking of cancer as a friend and not as an enemy!"
“Dating with a GIST leads to two major difficulties,” says Estelle Lecointe, Pediatric GISTer and founder of Ensemble contre le GIST, “The first one being to announce the disease, the second one to explain the induced collateral damages and personal sacrifices. It’s very difficult to find the right time to bring these topics in the discussion as these aspects can be very scary for someone who’s never faced this kind of situation..."
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.
Reviews of patients treated at three major cancer centers suggest that Sutent-related heart problems may be more common than initially reported. Reports of heart failure ranged from eight percent in 75 GIST patients treated [...]
