Real-world data on the efficacy and safety of adjuvant chemotherapy in Japanese patients with a high-risk of gastrointestinal stromal tumor recurrence

• Published in: International journal of clinical oncology 2022-05, Vol.27 (5), p.921-929
• Main Authors: Ushimaru, Yuki, Takahashi, Tsuyoshi, Nakajima, Kiyokazu, Teranishi, Ryugo, Nishida, Toshirou, Hirota, Seiichi, Motoori, Masaaki, Omori, Takeshi, Kawabata, Ryohei, Nishikawa, Kazuhiro, Saito, Takuro, Yamashita, Kotaro, Tanaka, Koji, Makino, Tomoki, Yamamoto, Kazuyoshi, Kurokawa, Yukinori, Eguchi, Hidetoshi, Doki, Yuichiro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adverse events; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Cancer Research; Chemotherapy; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; Gastrointestinal cancer; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors - drug therapy; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors - pathology; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors - surgery; Humans; Imatinib Mesylate - therapeutic use; Japan; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - chemically induced; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - drug therapy; Oncology; Original Article; Patients; Retrospective Studies; Surgical Oncology; Survival; Targeted cancer therapy; Terminology; Tumors
• ISSN: 1341-9625; 1437-7772
• DOI: 10.1007/s10147-022-02135-7

Background Complete surgical resection is the only treatment for resectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Three-year adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) is recommended for patients with high-risk GISTs. However, there are scarce data on this topic in Japan. We aimed to study the efficacy and safety of AC in Japanese patients with high-risk GISTs. Methods Patients with high-risk GISTs who received complete resections during 1992–2019 in our hospitals were included in this retrospective study. We evaluated patients’ treatments with or without AC, completion rates, adverse events (AEs), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS). Results Overall, 89 patients categorized as high risk were enrolled in this study. Fifty-five patients received AC (AC group), and 34 patients did not receive AC (control group). Twenty-three (41.8%) patients experienced Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events Grade 2 or higher AEs. At a median follow-up of 61.6 months, 41 (74.5%) patients completed the planned treatment (including six patients with ongoing treatment), whereas 14 (25.4%) patients did not complete the treatment owing to the development of AEs (nine patients), patients’ request (three patients), recurrence (one patient), and mutational analysis (one patient). Comparing the data between the treatment and control groups, the RFS rate was significantly better for the AC group ( P