Aspects of surgical treatment for gastro-intestinal stromal tumors

Gastro-intestinal stromal tumors (GIST) form the commonest subgroup of soft tissue sarcomas. They arise in the muscular layer of the esophagus, stomach, small intestines and rectum. Characteristic and important for the assessment of the extent of tumors is the peripheral rim vascularization of primary tumors and metastases. Indications for resection are given for tumors larger than 2 cm in size. Locally advanced GISTs can be advantageously treated with imatinib/sunitinib as neoadjuvant and it is often possible to select a low level of resection for this size of tumor and when the rim area is not hypervascularized. Even in the metastizing stage surgical treatment can be used for elimination of resistant metastases or for removal of residual tumor tissue in an attempt to counteract secondary tumor progression. The effect of this treatment is currently being tested in a randomized phase III study.