Prognostic factors after surgery of primary resectable gastrointestinal stromal tumours
Introduction
Gastro-intestinal stromal tumours (GIST) are rare tumours occurring at all levels of the gastrointestinal tract. The advent of GLEEVEC has markedly altered the clinical approach to GIST. It has proven to be effective in metastatic GIST1 and is also under investigation as a neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy. Complete responses after GLEEVEC therapy are restricted to a few patients2 (4% complete remission) and 15% secondary resistances/year are observed.3 Hence, the initial surgery is crucial to avoid recurrence.
Most GISTs contain a gain-of-function mutation in the c-kit proto-oncogene. Activating mutations of KIT or PDGFRA are found in the vast majority of GISTs and prognostic associations were found with particular KIT mutation types.4 Patients enrolled in this study were treated before 1999, consequently, therapy targeting c-kit was not available. The c-kit status is usually unknown at the time of initial resection, especially in case of emergency surgery, and cannot be included during decision-making concerning the optimal surgical strategy.
Incomplete resection is the major factor predictive of a poor prognosis.5 Factors influencing survival after a curative tumour resection are controversial. Traditionally, the three key prognostic factors have been mitotic rate, tumour size, and site. Tumours that are small (< or =2 cm) and show mitotic activity not exceeding five mitoses per 50 high-power fields have an excellent prognosis, probably independent of site, although this has not been shown specifically for all sites.6 The value of negative margins on the resected organ is uncertain with large GISTs,7 which may shed cells from anywhere along their surface directly into the peritoneum. But the surgical procedure and its impact on microscopic margin is probably relevant for small tumours.
The aim of this study was to report the factors influencing the prognosis after complete resection of the primary tumour.
Section snippets
Patients
The hospital charts of all the patients who presented between 1980 and 1998 at the Institut Gustave Roussy (IGR) with a GIST in the stomach, duodenum, small bowel and colon-rectum and who underwent a complete initial resection of the primary tumour were reviewed. Tumours were considered malignant if they had more than five mitoses per 50 high power fields. Morphological criteria were used to classify tumour as GIST. All mesenchymal tumours (spindle cells and epithelioid cells) originating in
Patients charts
One hundred and three patients with GIST were referred to our institution for initial therapy or for follow-up after initial therapy or treatment of recurrences. Forty-four patients who had undergone an initial incomplete resection and/or who had synchronous metastatic disease were excluded from the study. Finally, 59 patients with primary GIST completely resected were included in the study. Among these patients, 12 underwent the initial resection in our institution, 47 were referred for follow
Discussion
Gleevec was first applied to GIST 5 years ago. It has already revolutionized the treatment of patients with metastatic disease.1., 2. But surgery remains the mainstay of treatment in patients with localized, resectable disease and the goal of our study was to clarify its modalities. In case of recurrence, resistances to imatinib have appeared and complete responses are rare,3 so that Gleevec cannot palliate an inadequate initial surgery.
The type of primary surgery did not influence overall
Acknowledgements
We thank Mrs Lorna Saint Ange for editing.
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Do microscopic surgical margins matter for primary gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor?
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2019, Surgical Clinics of North AmericaCitation Excerpt :In addition to tumor site, size, mitotic rate, and tumor rupture, complete surgical resection of disease is an important prognostic indicator for GISTs. R0 resection, or complete resection of all gross and microscopic disease as determined by pathologic review has been shown in numerous studies to be associated with improved local recurrence rate and overall survival.19–21 Therefore, complete resection should be prioritized in the surgical approach to GISTs.
Hybrid NOTES: Combined Laparo-endoscopic Full-thickness Resection Techniques
2016, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Clinics of North AmericaMultivisceral resections for gastrointestinal stromal tumors: Are the risks justifiable?
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