Current Research

Research for GIST is ongoing. The following advances may still be under investigation in clinical trials and may not be approved or available at this current time. Always discuss all diagnostic and treatment options with your doctor.

Personalized medicine. Recent studies have shown that depending on genetic findings (specific gene mutations), some patients may require higher doses of imatinib to achieve the best results. Currently this testing is being offered in clinical trials. Also, because the exact type of gene mutations in GIST is an important indicator of the tumor’s treatment response to both imatinib and sunitinib, obtaining this information from individual patients may, therefore, allow therapy to be targeted based on the specific mutation present in the tumor. This may fine-tune the most appropriate therapy to be administered in early stage of the tumor.