title: Neoadjuvant imatinib in locally advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors of the stomach: report of three cases.
abstract: Neoadjuvant imatinib therapy used to treat locally advanced or metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GI ST) remains under active investigation. We studied three cases of locally advanced gastric GISTs treated with imatinib on a neoadjuvant basis, followed by a complete surgical resection. Three patients were diagnosed with locally advanced unresectable GIST of the stomach and were started on imatinib 400 mg/day. After the imatinib treatment, partial responses were achieved in all patients and the tumors were considered resectable. Surgical resection was done after 7, 11, and 8 months of imatinib therapy, respectively. In one case, a metastatic liver lesion was detected during the imatinib treatment using computed tomography scans, so the imatinib therapy was maintained for 11 months postoperatively. In the other two patients without distant metastasis, imatinib treatment was not restarted after surgery. Mutational analysis revealed a mutation in exon 11 of the c-kit gene in two patients, and wild-type c-kit and PDGFRA in one patient. During pathology review of all three cases, we noted several features common to imatinib treatment. There was no evidence of tumor recurrence in all three patients at respective follow-up visits of 22, 15, and 7 months. These results suggest that the neoadjuvant imatinib therapy is a potentially curative approach for selected patients with locally advanced GIST.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Seon
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Jae-Lyun
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Mi-Jung
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Min-Hee
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.forename: Heung Moon
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Tae Won
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Se Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Jeong Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Yook
authors.forename: Sung Tae
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Byung Sik
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yoon-Koo
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Kang