Optimizing surgical and imatinib therapy for the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The discovery of activating KIT and PDGFRα mutations in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) represented a milestone as it allowed clinicians to use tyrosine kinase inhibitors, like imatinib, to treat this sarcoma. Although surgery remains the only potentially curative treatment, patients who undergo complete resection may still experience local recurrence or distant metastases. Therapeutic strategies that combine surgical resection and adjuvant imatinib may represent the best treatment to maximize patient outcomes. In addition to the use of imatinib in the adjuvant and metastatic settings, neoadjuvant imatinib, employed as a cytoreductive therapy, can decrease tumor volume, increase the probability of complete resection, and may reduce surgery-related morbidities.

SUBMITTER: Sicklick JK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3824223 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature