Gastrointestinal stromal tumors: A single center retrospective 15 years study

Background: Gastro Intestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs) are defined as mesenchymal tumours that develop within the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. Surgery is the treatment of choice and may be indicated for locally advanced or previously non resectable disease after a favorable response to preoperative therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted for all patients with a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of GIST who were admitted to the University Hospital of Parma from January 2000 to January 2015- The following parameters were reviewed and analyzed: age, sex, blood type, symptoms on presentation, tumor site, tumor size, mitotic rate, risk grade, histopathology and immunohistochemistry assays, type of cells. Results: All patients underwent elective surgery. Between January 2000 and January 2015, 61 patients were admitted to the OU General Surgery and Organ Transplantation, University Hospital of Parma and received surgical treatment for GISTs. Thirty-five were male (57-4%) and 26 female (42.6%). The mean age at diagnosis was 69.03 ± 10.07 years (range 29 - 89 years); males 69.6 ± 9.3 years (range 49 - 89 years) and females 68 ± 12.4 years (range 29 - 86 years). Larger tumor size, higher mitotic rate, higher risk rate, margin status contributed to poorer outcome (lower OS and DFS) as independent factors. Conclusions: Radical surgery is the treatment of choice for resectable GISTs. Very low and low-risk tumor can be treated with surgery alone.