Gastrointestinal stromal tumor natural history
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Parminder Dhingra, M.D. [2]
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Gastrointestinal stromal tumor Microchapters |
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Differentiating Gastrointestinal stromal tumor from other Diseases |
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Diagnosis |
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Treatment |
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Case Studies |
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Gastrointestinal stromal tumor natural history On the Web |
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American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Gastrointestinal stromal tumor natural history |
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Directions to Hospitals Treating Gastrointestinal stromal tumor |
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Risk calculators and risk factors for Gastrointestinal stromal tumor natural history |
Overview
Natural history
Common sites of involvement include:
- Stomach: 70%
- Small intestine: 20-25%
- Anorectum: 7%
- Oesophagus
GISTs occur not only anywhere along the gastrointestinal tract, but also in the mesentery, omentum and retroperitoneum, which is called extra-gastrointestinal GISTs 1,4.
Metastatic lesions may also be seen in cases of malignant extra-gastrointestinal GISTs
Prognosis
At the time of clinical presentation, the prognosis appears to be influenced by genetic events other than kinase mutations, although a particular kinase mutation may help to define the initial clinical course of a GIST. Based on retrospective studies from time periods that predated the clinical use of kinase inhibitors, current recommendations for assessing the risk of progression for a newly diagnosed primary GIST rely on three parameters:
- Mitotic index (mitoses per 50 high-power fields)
- Tumor size
- Tumor location[1]