OBJECTIVETo evaluate the impact of primary site, NIH risk and imatinib treatment on the prognosis of patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors(GIST).

METHODSClinicopathological data of 156 adult patients with GIST treated by imatinib in the Cancer Institute and Hospital of Tianjin Medical University from January 2006 to December 2010 were retrospectively analyzed. According to NIH risk classification, 30 patients were at moderate risk and 126 at high risk. Sixty-seven patients had advanced GIST. Prognosis of patients with different primary tumor site, different NIH risk and different treatment was compared respectively.

RESULTSImatinib therapy was well tolerated in all the patients. Eighty-nine cases received radical operation and adjuvant imatinib treatment. Among 67 advanced GIST cases, 26 received radical operation and adjuvant imatinib treatment, 27 received palliative operation and adjuvant imatinib treatment, and 14 received simple adjuvant imatinib treatment without operation. All the patients had routine follow-up, ranging from 9 to 56(median 27) months. The overall survival (OS) rate was 96% in 1-year, 86% in 2-year, and 71% in 3-year. The OS rate was 95% in 1-year, 77% in 2-year, and 65% in 3-year for patients at high risk, and all 100% in 1-, 2-, 3-year for patients at moderate risk, the differences was statistically significant (P=0.001). The OS rate was 97% in 1-year, 90% in 2-year, and 84% in 3-year for patients with gastric GIST, and 95% in 1-year, 69% in 2-year, and 52% in 3-year for patients with non-gastric GIST, the difference was significant(P=0.000). The OS rate was 98% in 1-year, 95% in 2-year, and 90% in 3-year for patients undergoing radical resection and adjuvant imatinib therapy. For 67 advanced GIST patients with imatinib therapy, none had complete remission, 41 had part remission, 15 had stable disease, indicating 56 advanced GIST cases(83.6%) obtaining clinical benefit. The OS rate was 91% in 1-year, 58% in 2-year, and 43% in 3-year.

CONCLUSIONSThe prognosis of high, and non-gastric and advanced GIST patients is poor. Radical resection combined with early imatinib treatment can improve the prognosis of GIST patients.