Current status and progress in novel drug research for gastrointestinal stromal tumors

Imatinib has created the era of precise treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). However, in recent years, there has been a lack of satisfactory drugs for imatinib resistance. Recently, the emergence of a series of new agents not only brings new hope to break this situation, but also verifies that the drug development of GIST treatment still needs to lock the driving gene as the main target. New drugs, such as avapritinib and ripretinib, have shown surprising therapeutic efficacy, which may lead to a new situation in the treatment of GIST. The precise treatment of GIST guided by different primary gene mutations and secondary drug resistance mutations will replace the traditional guidelines based on the number of treatment lines.