The laudatio was held by Dr. med. Donat Dürr, member of the GIST Group Award Committee and medical advisor of the GIST- Group Switzerland.

The GIST Group Switzerland, the support group for patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), has awarded its science prize for the tenth time. The 2019 GIST prize, worth CHF 10,000, was awarded to Dr. Stefanie Jilg and Dr. Michael Rassner for their publication on:

"Circulating cKIT and PDGFRA DNA indicates Disease Activity in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (GIST)"

Published in International Journal of Cancer 2019, Oct 15; 145(8):2292-2303

The award ceremony took place on 21. November 2019 at the semi-annual meeting of the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK), held in Zurich.

GISTs are very rare cancers of the gastrointestinal tract that are classified as sarcomas, a group of malignant tumors that affect connective tissue, bone and muscle. They occur in 10-15 people per one million population per year. SAKK, a non-profit organization, also conducts studies on such rare forms of cancer.