Surgical treatment for patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor after targeted therapy

Objective To explore the role of surgery and its long-term outcome in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST) treated with imatinib preoperatively. Methods Thirteen patients receiving imatinib therapy preoperatively, were retrospectively assessed for completeness of surgical resection and for disease-free and overall survival after resection. Results Thirteen patients, including 3 patients with locally advanced primary GIST and 10 patients with recurrent or metastatic GIST, underwent surgery after preoperative treatment with imatinib. Complete resections were accomplished in 4 of the 5 responsive disease(RD) patients, and in 1 of the 8 progression disease(PD) patients (38.5%). The progression-free survival (PFS) time for patients with RD and PD were 24.8 months and 2.8 months respectively. The difference of PFS between patients with RD and those with PD was significant (P 0.05). Conclusion Surgical intervention following imatinib is feasible and can be considered for patients with advanced GIST responsive to imatinib. Key words: Gastrointestinal stromal tumor;  Imatinib;  Targeted therapy;  Surgical procedures