[Stromal tumors of gastrointestinal tract: clinical and pathological features]

During the period 1991 till 1999, ten patients with primary stromal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract (stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum and rectum) were treated. Nine patients underwent radical resection and one patient had non-complete resection of the tumor. The median age of the group was 63 years for 7 male and 3 female patients. The median follow-up period was 58 months. The tumor size was 4.5-17 cm. (median 10 cm.) The median survival was 43 months. Five patients remained alive without the disease (median survival 87 months). One patient died with no evidence of the disease after 12 months. One patient remains alive with liver metastases for 13 months and 4 patients died of metastatic disease (median survival 10 months). Features associated with decreased survival included tumor size > 5-8 cm., mitotic counts > 5 mitotic figures per 50 high-power microscopic fields and high cellularity.