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Life with FASEB for three decades.

ABSTRACT: As APS President-elect, I participated in the Williamsburg Retreat in 1989 to address the issue of keeping member societies in FASEB. The Retreat led to focusing on public affairs and reducing society dues. As APS President, I met with leadership of ASBMB to convince them to remain in the restructured FASEB. As the first elected President of the new FASEB in 1992, I organized member societies to participate in NIH Strategic Plan meeting to maintain the priority of funding of unsolicited investigator-initiated research instead of a top-down approach. A new Office for Policy Analysis and Research was established to pursue proactive public affairs activities and strategic thinking. In response to qualitative and quantitative threats to biomedical research funding, I worked with FASEB member societies and the Public Affairs office to mobilize letter-writing and a petition drive to the President and Members of US Congress, resulting in >20,000 signatures. This led to a 6.1% increase of FY94 funding, instead of a cut. When FASEB's annual meeting was changed to Experimental Biology (EB), I worked with EB to ensure the smooth transition. I organized Tang Prize Lectures which became the highly successful EB plenary lectures. My involvement with FASEB was helpful in the formation of NIBIB in 2001 and recruitment of BMES as a member society in 2008.

SUBMITTER: Chien S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8493971 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are rare mesenchymal tumors characterized by KIT or PDGFRA mutations. Over three decades, significant changes in drug discovery and loco-regional (LR) procedures have impacted treatment strategies. We assessed the evolution of treatment strategies for metastatic GIST patients treated in the three national coordinating centers of NetSarc, the French network of sarcoma referral centers endorsed by the National Institute of Cancers, from 1990 to 2018. The primary objective was to describe the clinical and biological profiles as well as the treatment modalities of patients with metastatic GIST in a real-life setting, including access to clinical trials and LR procedures in the metastatic setting. Secondary objectives were to assess (1) patients' outcome in terms of time to next treatment (TNT) for each line of systemic treatment, (2) patients' overall survival (OS), (3) evolution of patients' treatment modalities and OS according to treatment access: <2002 (pre-imatinib approval), 2002-2006 (pre-sunitinib approval), 2006-2014 (pre-regorafenib approval), post 2014, and (4) the impact of clinical trials and LR procedures on TNT and OS in the metastatic setting. 1038 patients with a diagnosis of GIST made in one of the three participating centers between 1990 and 2018 were included in the national prospective database. Among them, 492 patients presented metastasis, either synchronous or metachronous. The median number of therapy lines in the metastatic setting was 3 (range 0-15). More than half of the patients (55%) participated in a clinical trial during the course of their metastatic disease and half (51%) underwent additional LR procedures on metastatic sites. The median OS in the metastatic setting was 83.4 months (95%CI [72.7; 97.9]). The median TNT was 26.7 months (95%CI [23.4; 32.3]) in first-line, 10.2 months (95%CI [8.6; 11.8]) in second line, 6.7 months (95%CI [5.3; 8.5]) in third line, and 5.5 months (95%CI [4.3; 6.7]) in fourth line, respectively. There was no statistical difference in OS in the metastatic setting between the four therapeutic periods (log rank, p = 0.18). In multivariate analysis, age, AFIP Miettinen classification, mutational status, surgery of the primary tumor, participation in a clinical trial in the first line and LR procedure to metastatic sites were associated with longer TNT in the first line, whereas age, mitotic index, mutational status, surgery of the primary tumor and LR procedure to metastatic sites were associated with longer OS. This real-life study advocates for early reference of metastatic GIST patients to expert centers to orchestrate the best access to future innovative clinical trials together with LR strategies and further improve GIST patients' survival.

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Life with FASEB for three decades.

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