Surgical treatment of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors: analysis of 92 operated patients.
OBJECTIVE
To review and evaluate the clinicopathological factors predictive of recurrence after surgical resection for gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) of the stomach.


METHODS
The clinicopathological records of 92 gastric GIST patients who were operated upon at a single institute from 1996 to 2005 were retrospectively reviewed and assessed for recurrence-free survival.


RESULTS
The patients included 43 men and 49 women. Their ages ranged from 25 to 91 years. The size of the tumors varied from 0.8 to 47.7 cm (median 5.8; 95% CI 6.4-9.2 cm). All but one operative margin were clear. The follow-up period ranged from 11 to 112 months (median 31, 95% CI 33.7-43.5 months). Fifteen patients (16%) developed disease recurrence, of which liver metastasis was the most common. Only 1 of the patients with tumors <4 cm developed recurrence. The 3-year recurrence-free survival rates for patients with tumors smaller or larger than 4 cm were 93 and 56.0%, respectively (p < 0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that the tumor size was the independent factor that was inversely associated with recurrence-free survival.


CONCLUSIONS
The tumor size is an important prognostic factor for recurrence after surgery. Early excision is recommended for gastric GISTs even of small size.
Lai
I-Rue
IR
Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chen
Chiung-Nien
CN
Lin
Ming-Tsan
MT
Lee
Po-Huang
PH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D046152:Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D008297:Male; D008637:Mesenchymoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*