[The Characteristics of Patients with GIST Who Experienced Late Recurrence after Resection]

The characteristics of patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST)who need long-term surveillance after resection remain unclear. We investigated the characteristics of 14 patients with GIST who developed recurrence over 5 years after resection. The most common primary tumor site was the stomach, followed by the rectum and small intestine. We found that 58% of patients had low-risk tumors, and 29% of patients developed recurrence over 10 years after resection. The most common first recurrence site was local, followed by the liver and peritoneum. All 4 patients with rectal GIST underwent local resection and developed local recurrence. Late recurrence could be observed even in low-risk tumors. Particularly, patients with rectal GIST frequently developed local recurrence. Thus, postoperative surveillance should be considered depending on operative or pathological findings.