Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (GIST) News and Research

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Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (GIST) is a type of tumor that usually begins in cells in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. It can be benign or malignant.

Research on rare cancers

A cancer diagnosis can be a life-changing event. Many questions arise, with one of the first being, "Where should I be treated?" Patients diagnosed with rare cancers may have difficulty finding a physician knowledgeable in treating their type of cancer.

11 Apr 2011

European Commission approves Pfizer's SUTENT for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the European Commission has approved SUTENT (sunitinib malate) for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic, well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NET) with disease progression in adults.

2 Dec 2010

Pfizer ceases SUN 1120 Phase 3 trial of SUTENT in men with CRPC

Pfizer Inc. announced today the discontinuation of the SUN 1120 Phase 3 trial evaluating SUTENT (sunitinib malate) in combination with prednisone for men with advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer that had progressed despite treatment with a docetaxel-based chemotherapy regimen. During a scheduled interim analysis, an independent Data Monitoring Committee found that the combination of sunitinib with prednisone was unlikely to improve overall survival when compared to prednisone alone.

28 Sep 2010

Pfizer reports Progression-Free survival in SUN 1087 combination trial of sunitinib with erlotinib for NSCLC

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the SUN 1087 trial of sunitinib in combination with erlotinib versus erlotinib demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in Progression-Free but not in Overall Survival in patients with previously treated advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

24 Aug 2010

Synta presents positive clinical results from STA-9090 Hsp90 inhibitor trials in solid tumors at ASCO 2010

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. announced that clinical results for two Phase 1 trials of STA-9090 in solid tumors, as well as 12 month updated survival results from the SYMMETRY trial of elesclomol in metastatic melanoma, were presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

8 Jun 2010

New data highlighting Pfizer's approach to cancer drug development to be presented at ASCO meeting

Pfizer Oncology will present new data highlighting the company's focused approach to cancer drug development through the identification and validation of molecular targets. These results will be presented at the 46th Annual American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago from June 4-8.

21 May 2010

Cancers deficient in ASS enzyme allow ADI-PEG 20 to inhibit cancer cell growth

Polaris Group scientists and university collaborators reported at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), that a number of different cancers have a deficiency in a specific enzyme, argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS), which allows pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI-PEG 20) to inhibit cancer cell growth.

22 Apr 2010

Two Phase 3 studies of Sutent in advanced breast cancer fail to meet primary endpoints

Pfizer Inc. announced today that two Phase 3 studies of Sutent® (sunitinib malate) in advanced breast cancer did not meet their primary endpoints. The SUN 1064 Phase 3 study of sunitinib in combination with docetaxel for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced HER-2 negative breast cancer did not show a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival compared with docetaxel alone.

12 Mar 2010

Pfizer's new pipeline shows growth and diversity in research and development

Pfizer Inc. today provided an update to its pipeline for the first time since the close of the acquisition of Wyeth in October, 2009. The new development pipeline, composed of assets from both legacy companies, includes 133 programs from phase 1 through registration, and shows growth and increased diversity in each of the areas where the company invests in research and development.

28 Jan 2010

Cancer drug may provide an effective secondary treatment for gut tumor

A drug that is already an approved therapy for some cancers also might be an effective secondary treatment for a rare tumor of the gastrointestinal tract, according to a team led by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). The findings, based on experiments using cell cultures, were published in the Jan. 1 issue of Cancer Research.

12 Jan 2010

Study finds survival rates from GIST improving among African-Americans

New research published in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons reveals that African Americans with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), a rare cancer that begins in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract, now have survival rates equivalent to those of Caucasians. Prior to 2000, African Americans were more likely to develop GIST and less likely to undergo surgical treatment for this type of cancer.

14 Jul 2009

Genetic signature may predict patient response to GIST therapy

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center uncovered a genetic pattern that may help predict how gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) patients respond to the targeted therapy imatinib mesylate (Gleevec). Moreover, their findings point to genes that could be suppressed in order to make these tumors respond more readily to imatinib.

15 May 2009

Discovery of genetic pattern that may predict response to Gleevec in GIST

22 Apr 2009

Gleevec reduces risk of cancer returning in patients with life-threatening gastrointestinal stromal tumors

Data published online and in an upcoming print issue of The Lancet show that Gleevec (imatinib mesylate) tablets, when taken after surgery, substantially reduces the rate of recurrence of Kit-positive gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) compared with placebo.

20 Mar 2009

Study shows surgery provides good long-term outcomes for patients with gastrointestinal cancers

New research published in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that laparoscopic removal of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) is safe and effective, with a disease-free survival rate of nearly 80 percent after an average follow-up time of three and a-half years.

15 Jan 2009

FDA approves Gleevec (imatinib mesylate) to prevent gastrointestinal stromal tumor

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Gleevec (imatinib mesylate) for a new indication – keeping cancer from growing in patients following surgical removal of a gastrointestinal stromal tumor or GIST.

21 Dec 2008

Forgotten but not gone - how the brain takes care of things

Thanks to our ability to learn and to remember, we can perform tasks that other living things can not even dream of.

17 Nov 2008

Gleevec receives FDA priority review for gastrointestinal stromal tumors after surgery

Novartis has announced that Gleevec (imatinib mesylate) tablets, (known as Glivec (imatinib) outside the US, Canada and Israel), has been granted priority review status by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the first therapy to be reviewed for use after surgery in kit-positive gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).

27 Aug 2008

Memory on trial - implications for legal proceedings

The U.S. legal system has long assumed that all testimony is not equally credible, that some witnesses are more reliable than others.

14 Mar 2008

Sunitinib may be associated with cardiac toxicity

Another FDA-approved targeted cancer drug, sunitinib (SutentTM, Pfizer), may be associated with cardiac toxicity, report researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston), and Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia).

17 Dec 2007