1. Contact the hospital where your surgery was done and ask where the tissue samples are being held (in that hospital, in another hospital, in a lab).

2. Contact the lab or hospital that has your samples and ask who you can speak with about having them sent out (usually the pathology department). 

3. Explain that you are a patient with GIST and you are having mutational testing done.  You will need paraffin samples of tissue from the tumor site and a non-tumor site and you do not want them to be stained.  You would like you tissue samples sent to:

Dr. Cristina Antonescu
Department of Pathology
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Ave
New York, NY 10021

Also tell them you want a note attached somewhere on the package that says: Memorial Sloan-Kettering/Life Raft Group/ Pediatric GIST Project

4. They might ask you to fill out a form (samples cannot be sent out unless the patient gives consent).  They might fax or mail it to you.

5. Send the form back to the hospital or lab.

6. To ensure best results, ask how you can track your samples (items shipped through FedEx can followed using a tracking number).

7. Dr. Antonescu will contact you with the results, if not, call Memorial Sloan-Kettering at 212-639-7900 for assistance in reaching her.

8. If there are any problems or questions, call or email the Life Raft Group at (973) 837-9092 or liferaft@liferaftgroup.org for help.