A gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) masquerading as an ovarian mass

Background: Malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are rare mesenchymal tumors originating in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. Myogenic gastrointestinal stromal tumor, a distinctive morphologic variant is characterized by an unusually prominent myxoid stromal background. Case presentation: We report a case of myxoid variant of GIST in a 42 years old woman presenting as an epigastric mass associated to an ovarian cyst and elevated CA-125. Histologically, the lesions was composed of a proliferation of spindle cells in an abundant myxoid stroma, without evidence of atypia or anaplasia. Immunohistochemical stains showed strong positive staining with muscle actin, positive staining with CD34 and weak positive staining with CD117, while showed negative for S-100. Conclusion: At surgery every effort should be made to identify the origin of the tumor. A complete surgical removal of the tumor should be obtained, as this is the only established treatment that offers long term survival. © 2004 Carlomagno and Beneduce; licensee BioMed Central Ltd