A Case of Laparoscopic Gastrectomy for Gastric GIST after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Imatinib Mesylate

We report the case of a 68-year-old woman who underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy for a gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy with imatinib mesylate. After conducting gastroscopy because of weight loss and anemia, we identified a submucosal tumor in the cardia. A GIST of 8 cm in diameter invaded the pancreatic tail and excluded the splenic vein. We administered imatinib 400 mg/day as neoadjuvant chemotherapy. We performed laparoscopic partial gastrectomy 5 months after the initiation of chemotherapy. According to the histopathological diagnosis, the surgical margin was positive. As an additional excision, we performed laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy. Without postoperative complications, it passes smoothly as of 5 months after surgery.