title: Tumor size is a major determinant of recurrence in patients with resectable gastrointestinal stromal tumor.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumor of the gastrointestinal tract. Surgery remains the mainstay of curative treatment. Recurrence after surgery was frequent and was associated with poor prognosis. In this study, we tried to identify predictors of recurrence in resectable GISTs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between January 1995 and December 2005, 100 patients undergoing surgical resection for GISTs in 2 hospitals were studied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 67 gastric and 33 intestinal GISTs. Recurrence was noted in 11 patients (median follow-up of 43 months). Overall 5-year survival was 84%. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that tumor size > or = 10 cm was associated with higher recurrence rates (P = .032) and was the only independent poor prognostic factor for survival (P = .020).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We concluded that tumor size > or = 10 cm carried both a higher risk of recurrence and worse survival in resectable GISTs and could be considered an indicator for adjuvant therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tainan Hospital, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, 125, Jhong-Shan Rd, Tainan 700, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Kai-Hsi
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Ta-Ming
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yan-Shen
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.forename: Pin-Wen
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D013505:Digestive System Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D046152:Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D047368:Tumor Burden