Clinical trial results show promise for drug targeting rare stomach cancer

Early results from the BLU-285 study demonstrate efficacy for patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors

By Amanda Gibbs November 14, 2017 Portland, Oregon

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Michael Heinrich, M.D., works with patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). (OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)

GIST

Michael Heinrich, M.D., meets with Todd Bramhall during an exam, November 1, 2017. Bramhall is one of 3,000-6,000 people diagnosed annually with a rare stomach cancer called gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). (OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)

GIST

Michael Heinrich, M.D. meets with Victoria Castle of Sacramento, California during an appointment, November 1, 2017 at OHSU. Castle, who was diagnosed with gastrointestinal stromal tumors in 2009, began seeing Heinrich in 2014. (OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)

GIST

“Dr. Heinrich never gives up on me,” says Victoria Castle, of her doctor, Michael Heinrich, M.D. Castle, who was diagnosed with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) in 2009. Castle began seeing Heinrich in 2014. (OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)

GIST

Michael Heinrich, M.D. meets with Victoria Castle of Sacramento, California during an appointment, November 1, 2017 at OHSU. Castle, who was diagnosed with gastrointestinal stromal tumor in 2009, began seeing Heinrich in 2014. (OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)

Michael Heinrich, M.D.

Michael Heinrich, M.D., professor in the division of hematology and medical oncology at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute; physician at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, November 1, 2017. (OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)