Over the past 60 years, investigators of basic science, pathology, and clinical medicine have studied gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) and made minor advances in patient care. Recent discoveries have led to an understanding of the biological role of KIT and platelet-derived growth factor receptor-α in GIST and the development of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib mesylate (Gleevec, for...

BACKGROUND Many patients with gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) and synchronous gastric cancer have been described, most in single case studies. We retrospectively investigated the clinicopathologic features and prognostic effects of gastric GIST in patients with synchronous gastric cancer. METHODS The study enrolled 170 patients with gastric GIST, who had undergone complete surgi...

BACKGROUND Preoperative imatinib mesylate (IM) treatment has not yet been standardized. Here, we aim to further explore such therapy on patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) retrospectively. METHODS Patients experiencing preoperative IM were identified from January 2009 to February 2015. RESULTS A total of 28 GIST patients were identified. The patients received preoperative I...

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) of the small bowel is a relatively rare submucosal tumor that is often difficult to diagnose preoperatively. The only effective treatment is complete tumor resection. We describe a patient with a small-bowel GIST in whom laparoscopy was useful for diagnosis and treatment. The patient was a 65-year-old woman who underwent laparoscopic partial resection of th...

BACKGROUND Coexistence of gastrointestinal stromal tumor with synchronous or metachronous colorectal cancer represents a phenomenon with increasing number of relative reports in the last 5 years. Synchronous occurence of GISTs with other gastrointestinal tumors of different histogenesis presents a special interest. We herein report a case of GIST in Meckel's diverticulum synchronous with colore...

Spontaneous rupture of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) with hemoperitoneum is an extremely rare clinical presentation of this mesenchymal tumor. We report the unusual case of a 68-year-old man who was admitted to the hospital with abdominal pain. While waiting for the results of his laboratory tests the patient became pale and tachycardic and his abdomen distended with generalized rebound...

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are potentially malignant mesenchymal tumors that can give rise to distant metastases, mainly in the liver. The co-occurrence of synchronous primary liver tumors (e.g., hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)) in patients with GIST is extremely rare. This report describes a 77-year-old male patient with liver metastasis of GIST originating in the small intestine a...

Metastatic tumors to the liver resulting in fulminant hepatic failure are a rare occurrence and have not been previously described in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). A 70 year-old man was referred to hospital with postprandial discomfort. On examination a 19.5 cm large epithelioid GIST of the stomach was diagnosed. The mass exhibited unfavorable prognostic features: mitotic...

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are uncommon mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. Up to one-third of GISTs are malignant with a high rate of metastasis. Surgical resection is the mainstay of care for patients with resectable disease. Imatinib mesylate, a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is the current standard of care for GISTs that cannot be completely resected or in c...