Onkologie. 2007:1(2):61-65

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor: A new entity in oncology

Jozef Šufliarsky

Národný onkologický ústav, Bratislava

Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumours of the digestive tract. The advent of targeted molecular therapy in the oncology setting has helped to transform the care of patients with these malignancies. Five years ago surgery has been the only effective treatment. Understanding of molecular pathophysiology of GIST led to the clinical development of imatinib for treating patients with this disease. Although imatinib is effective in most patients with advanced GIST, early or late resistance of tumours to imatinib is an increasing clinical problem. Number of new drugs have been tested for activity against imatinib-resistant disease. Notably, a phase III trial of sunitinib in patients with intolerance or progression on imatinib demonstrated significant improvements in progression-free and overall survival versus placebo.

Keywords: gastrointestinal stromal tumor, imatinib mesylate, sunitinib

Published: October 23, 2007  Show citation