Gastric Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST): a Case Series and Current State of the Art in the Workup and Treatment of This Rare Disease
Abstract
Research Key Highlights
• Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are uncommon intramural tumors of the GI tract. They are most often seen in the stomach and arise from the muscular layers of the visceral wall.
• The clinical manifestations of GISTs vary depending on the tumor size and location, but are often asymptomatic.
• Advances in endosonography (EUS) and immunohistochemical staining can distinguish these lesions from other intramural and GI tract tumors and are an essential part of the diagnostic and staging workup.
• The advent of EUS-guided fine needle biopsy (FNB) allows for large core tissue acquisition. This has replaced FNA and allowed for histologic analysis of large specimens, increased IHC confirmation, and personalized medicine.
• Treatment involves surgical, endoscopic or hybrid endoscopiclaparoscopic resection. Imatinib may be given, and lesions less than 2 cm may be observed.
• The cases presented in this report represent pathology-confirmed GISTs diagnosed at a large volume, community, tertiary referral GI oncology program during July 2012 through May 2016. Follow-ups for each patient have discovered no recurrences to date.