The Effect of Surgery and Grade on Outcome of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors

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Abstract
GASTROINTESTINAL stromal tumors (GIST) are uncommon tumors, constituting 1% to 3% of all gastrointestinal malignant neoplasia in the United States.1-3 There has been considerable debate regarding the proper nomenclature, cell of origin, and pathological classification of this tumor of mixed phenotypes.4 The cell of origin has recently been postulated to be the interstitial cell of Cajal, an intestinal pacemaker cell of mesodermal descent.5-8 Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are known for wide variability in clinical behavior and for difficulty in determining malignancy and prognosis.9 Along with variability in the management of these patients, this difficulty in classifying GIST contributes to a wide variation in reported 5-year survival rates ranging from 19% to 56% overall, and from 32% to 63% following complete resection.1,3,10