Ms. Deng’s cancer treatment journey has been very long and she has received many different targeted drug treatments.

The new generation of targeted drugs that Ms. Deng received have recently been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Through their unique dual mechanism of action, drug resistance problems are less likely to occur, with a reduced risk of side effects allowing patients like Ms. Deng to return to a normal life and successfully stabilise the disease.

Gastrointestinal myoplasmoma (GIST) is a sarcoma that develops in the muscular layer or serosal layer of the digestive system and can occur anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract, usually in the stomach, duodenum and small intestine, as well as the oesophagus, rectum, or colon.

There are about 100 new cases of Gastrointestinal Myoplasmic Tumor (GIST) every year in Hong Kong. This cancer is closely related to gene mutation but the cause is still uncertain, so it is difficult to prevent its development. Surgical resection is the main treatment method for GIST, but there are also cases of recurrence or metastasis. Oral targeted drugs are generally recommended as adjuvant therapy after surgery to shrink the tumor and reduce the chance of recurrence.

“As long as you don’t give up, there is hope for treatment one day.”

Learn more from Icon Cancer Centre Hong Kong Clinical Oncologist Dr. Sarah Lee in the video below.