Postoperative imatinib in patients with intermediate risk gastrointestinal stromal tumor

To determine whether imatinib adjuvant treatment improved recurrence-free survival (RFS) in gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) with intermediate risk.

Patients who had undergone complete tumor resection with intermediate risk were enrolled.

A total of 99 patients received imatinib adjuvant therapy and 93 patients only received observation. The RFS in patients who received adjuvant therapy was superior to RFS in control group (p = 0.004). GIST with location of intestine or rectum and GIST with exon 11 deletion mutation had longer RFS.

Adjuvant imatinib improves RFS of GIST with intermediate risk of recurrence, particularly in GIST with intestinal and rectal location or c-kit gene exon 11 deletion mutation.