[Stromal tumors of the stomach. Our experience with 25 patients]

Stromal tumors (GIST) represent 5% of gastric neoplasms. Twenty-five patients with GIST underwent surgical operation: the tumor was benign, malignant, and borderline in 11, 12, and 2 cases, respectively. Main symptoms were abdominal pain (36%), and digestive haemorrhage (32%); 4 patients (16%) complained of abdominal mass. In 5 patients the diagnosis was incidental. Surgical operations (12 local resections, 9 partial gastric resections, and 4 total gastrectomies) were macroscopically curative in all the patients. In 3 patients the resection was extended to liver (1 case), spleen, pancreatic body-tail, and left kidney (1 case), and diaphragm (1 case) because of contiguous involvement of these organs. Postoperative mortality and morbidity were 4% and 20%, respectively. A patient with benign GIST passed away 36 months after operation because of breast cancer disease; other 9 patients are alive from 3 months to 25 years after operation. Three patients with low grade malignant GIST are well at mean follow up of 53 months. The 9 patients with high grade neoplasms are all dead (median survival time: 18 months). The 2 patients with borderline tumors are alive without evidence of disease at 3 and 8 years.