[Advances in the diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal tumours: 5 cases]

Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) are the most frequent mesenchymatous tumours of the digestive tract. Options for diagnosis and treatment have developed rapidly in recent years. The authors report five cases of GIST.

The study concerns 5 patients: 3 men and 2 women, with a mean age at diagnosis of 39.8 years. We describe the circumstances of discovery and the clinical and morphological characteristics of these tumours. They were located in the oesophagus (1 case), stomach (2 cases), small intestine (1 case) and mesentery (1 case). Tumour size ranged from 4-20 cm. Liver metastasis was identified at initial diagnosis for one patient. Immunohistochemical analysis identified expression of CD34, CD117 and S-100 proteins in all cases and smooth muscle actin in 2 cases. All the patients underwent surgical resection for GIST, and one received chemotherapy. No patient received imatinib treatment. After a mean follow-up of 40 months: one patient presented peritoneal carcinosis at one year, and 3 patients liver metastasis at 2 years; one of the latter died.

The cases reported here are original by the rarity of their localization (especially the oesophagus and the mesentery). Diagnosis and treatment options for patients are described in a discussion of the recent advances in the field.

GIST are the most frequently mesenchymatous tumours of the digestive tract. They must be recognized, especially in view of their frequency. Optimal management today involves complete tumour resection and imatinib.