Small bowel GIST harboring concurrent KIT exon 9 duplication and SDHC mutation: A case report

Copyright: © 2026 Speyer et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are molecularly defined by oncogenic alterations that predict clinical behavior and response to therapy. Activating mutations in KIT or PDGFRA characterize most GISTs and confer sensitivity to imatinib, whereas succinate dehydrogenase (SDH)–deficient GISTs lack these mutations and are typically imatinib resistant. These molecular subtypes are generally considered mutually exclusive. We report a rare case of a small bowel GIST harboring both a somatic KIT exon 9 A502_Y503 duplication and a germline inactivating SDHC mutation (p.R50C). The patient received neoadjuvant high-dose imatinib with a marked radiographic and metabolic response, followed by complete surgical resection. Pathology demonstrated spindle cell GIST with significant treatment effect and retained SDHB expression. This case suggests that oncogenic KIT signaling may remain the dominant driver of GIST behavior despite the presence of a germline SDHC mutation and highlights the importance of integrated molecular interpretation in GIST management.