OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST) after surgery in Shandong Province.

METHODSClinicopathological data of GIST patients undergoing surgery from January 2001 to June 2013 in four university teaching hospitals in Shandong Province were reviewed. Pathology results were rechecked. Patients were followed up. The prognostic factors were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses with Log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard model.

RESULTSA total of 1039 GIST cases were enrolled, including 509 males and 530 females, with age from 18 to 87 years(median, 58). Ninety-three patients died of GIST during follow-up. The 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rates were 94.6%, 91.7% and 87.8%, respectively. Patients undergoing R0 resection had a higher 5-year overall survival rate than those undergoing R1 resection(88.8% vs 69.0%, P<0.05). For patients with intermediate risk of recurrence after surgery, the 5-year overall survival rate was 94.4% and 89.2% respectively in imatinib and non-imatinib intervention groups(P>0.05). For patients with high risk of recurrence after surgery, the 5-year overall survival rate was 76.8% and 67.7% respectively(P<0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that tumor size(P<0.01, RR=1.988, 95%CI:1.497-2.641), mitotic count(P<0.01, RR=2.326, 95%CI:1.686-3.208) and tumor rupture(P<0.01, RR=3.032, 95%CI:1.732-5.308) were independent prognostic factors.

CONCLUSIONSTumor size, mitotic count and tumor rupture affect the prognosis of patients after resection of primary GIST independently. The standard treatment of localized GIST is R0 resection. Adjuvant imatinib therapy can improve overall survival of patients with high risk of recurrence after surgery. The efficacy of imatinib for patients with intermediate risk of recurrence remains to be verified.