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How do I know if Gleevec is helping me?

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How do I know if Gleevec is helping me?

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The mindset of many oncologists is based on studies from the 1970s that resulted in the “WHO” (World Health Organization) criteria, that later evolved into RECIST (Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors). To qualify for a “partial response,” RECIST requires a 30 percent or greater decrease in the sum of the largest diameter of all measurable tumors and an absence of any new tumors. Trent noted that for GIST, the RECIST criteria is misleading at times and doesn’t make for the best design of clinical trials — at least when using drugs like Gleevec. Trent gave examples of why RECIST is inadequate to measure response of GIST tumors to Gleevec. Figure 1, above, shows two CT scans. In the scan at left, a large GIST tumor is shown before treatment with Gleevec. The variation in gray is characteristic of a GIST. The lighter areas indicate viable (alive/capable of growing) tumor and the dark areas represent non-viable (dead) tumor. The scan at right shows the same tumor after eight weeks

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