Surgical Management in Patients with Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors: A Single-Center Experience

We have revisited prognostic outcomes and recurrence patterns in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) who underwent complete surgical resection at a single institution.

Patients who underwent curative surgical treatment were divided into two groups: those with high-risk GISTs (high-risk group) and those with very low-, low-, and intermediate-risk GISTs (lower-risk group).

A total of 109 patients who underwent surgery as an initial treatment for GIST were studied. The overall 5- and 10-year survival rates after surgery were 90.3 and 71.1%, respectively. The 5-year survival rate in high-risk group patients was 88.1%, and their overall survival rate did not vary significantly from that of the lower-risk group (5-year survival rate, 91.3%). The recurrence rate in patients with high-risk GISTs gradually increased without reaching a plateau, with a cumulative rate of GIST recurrence of 26.4 and 48.9% at 5 and 10 years after surgical treatment, respectively.

Our data suggest that the repeat surgical management in metastatic GIST is of clinical usefulness whatever the risk and improves survival.