What are the clinical steps for identifying hereditary GIST?
The first step in identifying hereditary GIST would be to speak with a physician, genetic counselor or other genetics professional to review your personal and family history. Based on the information that you provide, they may be able to help you evaluate the chance that your family has a hereditary form of GIST and determine whether additional genetic evaluation would be warranted. If appropriate based on your personal and family history, it may then be recommended that your family undergo genetic evaluation. It is ideal to begin by testing an affected family member (someone who has had a GIST) to try and determine whether there is a germ-line mutation in a GIST susceptibility gene, such as c-kit or PDGFRA, in the family. Genetic tests are performed on a sample of DNA from blood or saliva. If an alteration were identified in one of these genes, other family members could then undergo genetic testing to determine whether they have also inherited the familial mutation. Only those relati
