Clinicopathologic characteristics of gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the stomach

Hepato-Gastroenterology journal online access is not available, only print subscriptions.BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study was undertaken to investigate a surgical role in treating gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) of the stomach and to find their behavior and prognostic factors. METHODOLOGY: The clinicopathologic results of 112 patients with gastric GISTs who underwent surgery from December 1999 to August 2006 were reviewed. RESULTS: Forty (35.7%) patients had no symptoms. Of a total of 112 patients, curative resections were performed on 105 (93.8%). There were 41 (36.6%) high-risk patients. The mean follow-up period was 34.3 months (1-82 months) and there were two deaths. Six (5.7%) of the 105 patients who received curative resections had recurrences and all recurrences occurred only in high-risk patients. Univariate analysis showed that tumor size and mitotic count were prognostic for disease-free survival of GIST patients (p=0.0004 and p