title: Long term survival results for gastric GIST: is laparoscopic surgery for large gastric GIST feasible?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recently, laparoscopic resection for relatively small sized gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) has been widely accepted as minimally invasive surgery. However, no report on the long-term safety and efficacy of this surgery for large sized gastric GISTs has been published to date.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between July 1998 and January 2011, 104 consecutive patients who underwent resection for gastric GISTs were enrolled in this retrospective study. We assessed the clinicopathological characteristics, postoperative outcomes, patient survival, and tumor recurrence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 104 patients with gastric GISTs who were included in the study, there were 47 males and 57 females whose mean age was 59.8 years. Sixty-four patients (61.5%) had symptoms associated with tumor. Ten patients included in the group 1, 49 in the group 2, 15 in the group 3a, 9 in the group 5, 14 in the group 6a, and 7 in the group 6b. There was one minor complication and no mortalities. Recurrence was noted in 5 patients, with a median follow-up period of 49.3 months (range, 8.4 to 164.4). The 5-year overall and disease free survival rates of 104 patients were 98.6% and 94.8%, respectively. When comparing large tumor (5-10 cm) between laparoscopic and open surgery, there were statistically differences in age, tumor size, tumor location, and length of hospitalization. There were no statistical differences in the 5-year survival rate between laparoscopic and open surgery for large tumor (5-10cm).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Laparoscopic surgery is feasible and effective as an oncologic treatment of gastric GISTs. Moreover, laparoscopic surgery can be an acceptable alternative to open methods for gastric GISTs of size bigger than 5 cm.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Dong-A University College of Medicine, 3-1 Dongdaeshin-Dong, Busan 602-715, Korea.
authors.forename: Ki-Han
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Min-Chan
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ghap-Joong
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Su-Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jin-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Hyuk-Chan
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kwon
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000379:methods*; D046152:Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D047368:Tumor Burden