GSI’s Seventh Annual GIST Summit was another tremendous success! Held on Saturday, September 26, 2015 at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, the Summit was another excellent opportunity for patients and their family members and friends to learn more about GIST and to meet other patients.
The Summit was again chaired by Drs. Neeta Somaiah and Jonathan Trent, in partnership with GSI. The program was stellar, with an impressive group of experts and a wide range of topics– scroll down for full details on the speakers, the agenda, the films and the power points. In addition to learning from the speakers’ presentations, attendees had plenty of opportunity to interact with other GIST patients and family members, sharing stories of various experiences during their journeys with GIST. Through breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffee breaks, plus the break-out sessions, the Summit was truly a special day.
For those of you who couldn’t attend, some of the attendees also participated in the patient video filming and gave us short testimonials to help encourage us through life with GIST. Also, if you couldn’t attend this year, you can mark your calendar for next year’s Summit which will be held on September 17, 2016, again at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Our free-of-charge 2015 GIST Summit was sponsored through educational grants from Novartis Oncology, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer. GSI expresses a special thanks to our sponsors as well as to our medical faculty!
Agenda for GIST Summit 2015
| 8:00 am | Breakfast and registration | |
| 9:00 am | Welcome Neeta Somaiah, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX | |
| 9:05 am | Robert S. Benjamin, M.D., P. H. Distinguished Professor, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX | GIST and imatinib in 2015: Who should be treated and for how long?
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| 10:20 am | Alexander Lazar, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Selective (Soft Tissue) Pathology Fellowship Training Program, Houston, TX | GIST 201: the Pathology of GIST
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| 10:00 am | coffee | |
| 11:15 am | Raphael Pollock, M.D., Ph.D., Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Professor of Surgery, Chief of Surgical Services, James Cancer Hospital, Columbus, Ohio |
Contemporary Issues in Surgical Management of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor
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| 12:00 noon | Lunch | Filming Patient Testimonials Poster Display – View Posters Visiting with Speakers and Pharmaceutical Representatives |
| 2:15 pm | Jonathan A. Fletcher, M.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute / Harvard Cancer Center, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Boston, MA | Translating GIST Research into Targeted Therapeutics
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| 3:15 pm | coffee break | |
| 3:45 pm | Neeta Somaiah, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX | Building A New Paradigm in Combination Therapy: Trends and Pivotal Trials
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| 4:45 pm | Ask the Experts Open Panel Chaired by Alexander Lazar, MD PhD and Neeta Somaiah, MD
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| 6:00 pm | Closing Remarks and Adjourn to Dinner | |
