Gastro-intestinal stromal tumor (GIST): Experience from a tertiary care center in a low resource country

The aim of this retrospective study was to review the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of GISTs treated surgically at our center over the past decade.

We undertook a 12-year retrospective review of our experience in treating this condition with a focus on long-term outcomes of treated patients in a resource-constrained environment. Incomplete follow-up information continues to be a major problem with studies conducted in low resource settings, and in order to overcome this, we undertook telephonic contact with patients or their relatives to get the necessary information about their clinical status.

Fifty-seven patients with GIST underwent surgical resection during this period of time. The stomach was the most common organ involved in the disease, with 74% of the patients. Surgical resection was the main treatment approach, with R0 resection possible in 88%. Nine percent of the patients were given Imatinib as neoadjuvant treatment and 61% were offered the same, as adjuvant therapy. The duration of adjuvant treatment changed from one year to three years over the study period. Pathological risk assessment categorized the patients as Stage I, 33%; Stage II, 19%; Stage III, 39%; and Stage IV, 9%. Of the 40 patients who were at least three years from surgery, 35 were traceable giving an 87.5%, overall three-year survival. Thirty-one patients (77.5%) were confirmed to be disease-free at three years.

This is the first report of mid-long-term outcomes of the multimodality treatment of GIST from Pakistan. Upfront surgery continues to be the main modality. OS & DFS in resource-poor environments can be similar to those seen in a better-structured healthcare setting.