Assessment of quality of life in sarcomas: Incorporating the patient voice

Dr. Olga Husson, epidemiologist and Professor Dr. Winette van der Graaf, medical oncologist, aim to develop an instrument to assess health-related quality of life among sarcoma patients for use in research and clinical care. Background: Information on survival only is insufficient to determine the actual benefit of a treatment. Therefore, it is important to assess…

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Rare Disease Day 2019: Spot on Sarcomas!

A sarcoma is a cancer which starts in soft tissues such as muscles, joints, fat, nerves or blood vessels (among others) or in the bones. Sarcomas are very rare: They account for only approx. 1% of all cancer diagnoses in adults. What makes them so special is the fact, that sarcomas can arise basically anywhere…

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NEW HORIZONS GIST 2018 (2)

NEW HORIZONS GIST is the most important global annual conference for GIST patient advocates: GIST patient advocates from the global GIST patient community come together, interact with top GIST experts, have access to state‐of‐the‐art medical and scientific information and can exchange best practice in patient advocacy among each other. The 2018 conference took place in…

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Dr. George D. Demetri Receives the 2020 David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award

  “On behalf of SPAEN, our member organizations and all GIST- and Sarcoma patients, we congratulate Prof. Demetri on this so well-deserved award. We thank Dr. Demetri for his tireless research efforts in a rare group of diseases such as GIST and Sarcomas. Thanks also for his continued support to our patients and his engaged…

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WECAN launches “Virtual Meeting Resource Center”

  WECAN has launched the “Virtual Meeting Resource Center“, which provides a set of guides, instructions, check lists and templates which should help patient advocates to run successful virtual meetings, general assemblies, webinars, online brainstorming meetings – as the situation on face-to-face meetings is not likely to change in the near future. WECAN has compiled…

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Rare Disease Day – 28 February 2019

  28 February 2019 will be the twelfth international Rare Disease Day coordinated by EURORDIS. On and around this day hundreds of patient organisations from countries and regions all over the world will hold awareness-raising activities. The theme for Rare Disease Day 2019 is ‘Bridging health and social care‘. A rare disease, also referred to as an…

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Leiomyosarcoma Position Paper published!

    As leiomyosarcoma patients are challenged by the development of metastatic disease, effective systemic therapies are the cornerstone of outcome. However, the overall activity of the currently available conventional systemic treatments and the prognosis of patients with advanced or metastatic disease are still poor, making the treatment of this patient group challenging. Therefore, in…

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The evolving role of patient advocates in rare cancers

EDITORIAL The evolving role of patient advocates in rare cancers: opportunities and challenges Ornella Gonzato and Alessandro GronchiAssociazione Paola for Muskulo-Skeletal Tumors Onlus, Udine, Italy;Department of Surgery, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy The role of Patient Advocates (PAs) has evolved over time. In general, it has expanded ranging from direct support to…

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NEW HORIZONS GIST 2018 report available now!

NEW HORIZONS GIST is the most important global annual conference for GIST patient advocates: GIST patient advocates from the global GIST patient community come together, interact with top GIST experts, have access to state‐of‐the‐art medical and scientific information and can exchange best practice in patient advocacy among each other. The 2018 conference took place in…

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