Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics, treatment and prognosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). Methods The clinical data from 110 patients with pathologically performed GIST,who were admitted to the hospital between Feb. 2002 and July 2008,were retrospectively analyzed. Results Most of the GIST originated from stomach (50.9 %) and small intestine (31.8%). The clinical signs in 103 cases (93.6%) included gastrointestinal bleeding,epigastic pain and mass in abdomen. The pathological examination showed benign lesions in 14 ( 12.7 %) patients, junctional lesions in 37 ( 33. 6 %) patients and malignant lesions in 59 ( 53. 6 %)patients. The positive rates of CD117 and CD34 in GIST patients were 98.2% and 77.3% respectively. In all patients with GIST, 81.8% had complete resections of the tumor. Twenty-one patients (15 with metastasis and 6 being relapse) were treated with imatinib with responsive rate of 80. 0%. Conclusions The diagnosis of GIST relies on histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations because of lacking specific clinical menifestaions. CD117 is an important marker for the diagnosis of GIST and radical resection of the tumor is important in treatment of GIST. Molecular target therapy of imatinib can prolong the survival time of the patients with advanced GIST.