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Updated: Apr 14, 2026
Robotic Duodenal Sleeve Resection for Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor with Rare Exon 8 KIT Mutation Following Neoadjuvant Imatinib
Published on: April 3, 2026
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors: treatment patterns of a population-based sample
Linda C Harlan1, Jana Eisenstein, Maria C Russell
1Applied Research Program, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.
Objectives:
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) annually confirms therapy with treating physicians on a sample of patients diagnosed with a specific cancer.
Methods:
Using the NCI Patterns of Care data, treatment patterns were examined on a population-based sample of patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) in 2008.
Results:
A random sample of 323 of 405 GIST patients registered in SEER was selected. Most patients had gastric GISTs, were ≥ 65 years, white, had private insurance, and treated in a hospital with a residency program. Surgery was primarily performed in patients with non-metastatic disease (94%), in which: 26, 12, and 36% were at low, intermediate, and high-risk of recurrence, respectively. Amongst low-risk patients, ∼ 30% received adjuvant therapy. Amongst patients at higher risk, 26-40% did not receive adjuvant therapy. Imatinib was the most common targeted therapy administered. On multivariate analysis, age and risk-group were associated with receipt of adjuvant targeted therapy.
Conclusions:
Our study shows that in 2008, the majority of patients diagnosed with GIST received appropriate surgical and adjuvant therapies. However, a considerable subset may have been overtreated and undertreated. Future studies identifying factors that impact the delivery of adjuvant therapy should be conducted.
