Gastrointestinal stromal tumors

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are mesenchymal gut tumors that differ dramatically from other histologically similar neoplasms, such as leimomyomas, leiomyosarcomas (LMS), and neural tumors. Complete surgical removal remains the best current therapy for GISTs, but even major resections are...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current treatment options in oncology 2001-12, Vol.2 (6), p.485-491
Main Authors: Blanke, C D, Eisenberg, B L, Heinrich, M C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use
Benzamides
Biomarkers, Tumor - analysis
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
Combined Modality Therapy
Digestive System Surgical Procedures
Enzyme Inhibitors - therapeutic use
Epidemiologic Methods
Gastrointestinal Neoplasms - epidemiology
Gastrointestinal Neoplasms - therapy
Humans
Imatinib Mesylate
Immunotherapy
Medical research
Neoplasm Metastasis
Neoplasm Proteins - analysis
Neoplasm Proteins - antagonists & inhibitors
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - surgery
Neoplasms, Connective Tissue - epidemiology
Neoplasms, Connective Tissue - therapy
Piperazines - therapeutic use
Prognosis
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit - analysis
Pyrimidines - therapeutic use
Treatment Outcome
Tumors
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are mesenchymal gut tumors that differ dramatically from other histologically similar neoplasms, such as leimomyomas, leiomyosarcomas (LMS), and neural tumors. Complete surgical removal remains the best current therapy for GISTs, but even major resections are associated with recurrence in approximately 90% of cases. GISTs are remarkably resistant to irradiation and standard chemotherapy; there is no role for treatment with those modalities. Treatment of advanced GIST patients with STI571, a novel selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor, results in remission rates that approach 60% and overall tumor control rates of 85%. Selected groups of patients, as based on tumor mutational status, have response rates as high as 80%. To date, STI571 therapy remains the only systemic treatment for GISTs to have meaningful clinical activity. Though other molecularly targeted therapies exist in oncology (eg, trastuzumab), STI571 is one of the first that applies a drug specifically designed to inhibit the product of a constitutively-activating mutation that drives pathogenesis of a solid tumor. Its use can serve as a paradigm for designing molecularly targeted therapies for other malignancies.
ISSN:1527-2729
1534-6277
1534-5277
DOI:10.1007/s11864-001-0070-0