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Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs)

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Practical Medical Oncology Textbook

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Abstract

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are a group of tumors that, over the past 15 years, has emerged from a poorly understood neoplasm to a well-defined tumor entity. GISTs are highly resistant to conventional chemotherapy and, in the past, were typically managed surgically.

Prior to the advent of the tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) like imatinib, there were few treatment options available to patients with advanced GIST, and their survival was generally of few months.

The discovery of activated KIT mutation GISTs has radically changed our knowledge about tumor biology. It represents not only a key diagnostic marker but also a clinically important therapeutic target, transforming GISTs from a chemotherapy-resistant disease to a model for molecular targeted therapy.

All these findings have resulted in significant improvements in median overall survival (OS) and in a greater number of treatment options for the patients.

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The Role of Medical Treatment in the Management of GIST

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Author notes

  1. Lorena Incorvaia and Giuseppe Badalamenti should be considered equally co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Lorena Incorvaia

  2. Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostics (Bi.N.D.), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Viviana Bazan

  3. Department of Oncological, Surgical and Oral Science, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Sergio Rizzo

  4. Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Science, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Giuseppe Badalamenti & Antonio Russo

  5. Department of Surgery, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy

    Alessandro Gronchi & Sinziana Dumitra

Authors
  1. Lorena Incorvaia
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  2. Giuseppe Badalamenti
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  3. Sergio Rizzo
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  4. Viviana Bazan
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  5. Antonio Russo
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  6. Alessandro Gronchi
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  7. Sinziana Dumitra
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antonio Russo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Antonio Russo

  2. Oncology Department, University of Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium

    Marc Peeters

  3. Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Lorena Incorvaia

  4. Center for Thoracic Oncology, Tisch Cancer Institute, Mount Sinai System & Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, NY, USA

    Christian Rolfo

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Incorvaia, L. et al. (2021). Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs). In: Russo, A., Peeters, M., Incorvaia, L., Rolfo, C. (eds) Practical Medical Oncology Textbook. UNIPA Springer Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56051-5_59

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