On today’s episode of Patient Podcasts, we are joined with Vice Chair of GIST Cancer UK, Jayne Bressington who is also the Patient Director for PAWS-GIST. GISTs (Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors) are malignant tumors of soft tissues in the gastro-intestinal tract (the stomach and intestines). They are a kind of sarcoma, which is a very rare type of cancer. Around about 2% of tumors in the gastrointestinal area are GISTs. 

GIST is the only UK based charity solely devoted to GIST cancer. When Jayne's 15-year-old daughter Eve was diagnosed with Pediatric/Wild-type of GIST it was the worst news her family had ever received. Very little was known/available to patients with this diagnosis in the UK. In June 2010 Jayne & Eve attended the Pediatric, Wild-type GIST Clinic in Washington DC, hosted by Dr Su Young Kim and Dr Lee Helman. Inspired, Jayne felt determined that UK patients should also have this facility.