# George D. Demetri

Source: https://onco.cc/people/george-demetri/  
OnCo record `george-demetri` (Person). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Led the imatinib trial in GIST that proved a targeted drug could melt away a solid tumour, and every GIST kinase inhibitor since.

## Summary

George Demetri led the 2002 trial showing imatinib produces responses in more than half of patients with KIT-positive metastatic GIST, the first proof that a kinase inhibitor could transform a solid tumour and a founding result for precision oncology. He then led the pivotal trials of sunitinib, regorafenib and ripretinib in GIST and of trabectedin and eribulin in soft-tissue sarcoma. He co-directs the Ludwig Center at Harvard.

## Fields

- Kind: Person
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Tags: gist; sarcoma; targeted-therapy
- Role: Director, Sarcoma Center and Center for Sarcoma and Bone Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Professor, Harvard Medical School
- Specialisms: Gastrointestinal stromal tumour; Sarcoma; Kinase inhibitors; Early drug development

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_D._Demetri
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Demetri%20GD%5BAuthor%5D%20GIST%20imatinib

## Connected records

- cancers: [Gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST)](https://onco.cc/cancers/gist/), [Sarcomas (soft tissue, bone, GIST)](https://onco.cc/cancers/sarcoma/)
- technologies: [Small-molecule kinase inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/kinase-inhibitors/)
- targets: [KIT](https://onco.cc/targets/kit/)
- drugs: [Imatinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/imatinib/)
- institutions: [Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/dana-farber/)
- key papers: [First imatinib trial: a pill that switched off the enzyme driving chronic myeloid leukaemia](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-druker-imatinib-phase1-nejm-2001/)
- trials: [GRID](https://onco.cc/trials/grid/)

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