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Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor of the Adrenal Gland:A Case Report and Review of the Literature

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Abstract

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are rare neoplasms of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The occurrence of these neoplasms ectopically outside the GI tract is extremely uncommon. Only one case of primary adrenal GIST has been reported in the literature. In this account, we report a second case of primary adrenal GIST in a 34-year-old male who presented with a 5-week history of gradually progressive left flank pain and early satiety. Whole-body positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scan showed a 14 × 11 cm hypermetabolic 18fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-avid mass lesion involving the left adrenal gland and dorsal part of the left hemi-diaphragm. Biopsy of the lesion revealed tumor cells that are immunoreactive to CD-117 and CD-34 and negative to CD-31, S-100, cytokeratin, desmin, and vimentin, features characteristic of GIST. The patient was given imatinib, which drastically decreased his complaints with almost complete resolution of the tumor on his last follow-up radiographic images. Primary left adrenal GIST is an extremely rare neoplasm and can be confused with GISTs arising from the greater curvature of the stomach. Imatinib therapy is optimal in the management of these tumors.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest regarding the production of this article. The authors have no personal financial or institutional interest in any of the drugs, materials, or devices described in this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, P.O. Box 50927, Riyadh, 11533, Saudi Arabia

    Hussam Abou Al-Shaar, Shrouq Solimanie & Ahmed Abu-Zaid

  2. Oncology Center, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Ayman Azzam & Tarek Amin

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

    Ayman Azzam

Authors
  1. Hussam Abou Al-Shaar
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  2. Shrouq Solimanie
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  3. Ayman Azzam
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  5. Ahmed Abu-Zaid
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Correspondence to Ahmed Abu-Zaid.

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Abou Al-Shaar, H., Solimanie, S., Azzam, A. et al. Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor of the Adrenal Gland:A Case Report and Review of the Literature. Endocr Pathol 26, 27–32 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12022-014-9350-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12022-014-9350-7

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