The webinar on the therapy in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumour (GIST) titled “The Pathway to Excellence: New Product Launch” was successfully held on 29th March 2022. By pointing out several real-world experience in managing GIST, Dr. Gerry Kwok Gin Wai of the Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital and Dr. Tom Chen Wei Wu of the Department of Oncology, National Taiwan University Hospital highlighted the promising outcomes against GIST achieved by avapritinib, a recently approved tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). Avapritinib is a drug that selectively targets activation loop mutations targeting KIT exon 17 and PDGFRA (platelet-derived growth factor receptorα) D842V mutations. Discovery of these mutations facilitates the development of therapies in the management of GIST. When comparing with the conventional treatment of imatinab and other TKIs, Dr. Chen pointed out that avapritinib can definitely improve the outcomes of patients with PDGFRA D842V-mutant GIST, such as reducing the size of tumor and decreasing ascites. There are also clinical cases suggesting that avapritinib can be a possible option for c-kit mutated GIST patients in later-lines setting. Still, molecular profiling is very important in managing GIST, including the neoadjuvant, adjuvant and unresectable settings, since the identification of molecular drivers behind GISTs is needed for selecting the appropriate treatment strategy.
Dr. Kwok highlighted the genetic drivers of GIST
Dr. Kwok presented the clinical efficacy of avapritinib in GIST
Dr. Chen shared the real-world treatment outcomes reported in previous case series studies
Dr. Chen outlined the recommendations on GIST treatment in ESMO Guidelines
Discussion between Dr. Herbert Ho-Fung Loong (left, moderator of the webinar), Dr. Gerry Kwok (right, keynote speaker), and Dr. Tom Chen (middle, keynote speaker)
