Adjuvant Imatinib Therapy In Intermediate Or High Risk GISTs

ObjectiveTo evaluate the adjuvant therapeutic effect of imatinib in intermediate or high risk gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) after radical resection.MethodsThe intermediate or high risk GIST patients between 2007.4 and 2009.6 were retrospectively reviewed. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportion hazards regression model were used to analyze recurrence-free survival (RFS) and hazard ratio (HR).ResultsFinally, one hundred and ten patients were reviewed, and sixty two were intermediate or high risk GIST patients. The sample size of study group and control group was 32 and 30 respectively. The median follow-up time was 25 months (range 13-39 months). Twelve patients (40%) in control group had tumor recurrence, of which three were intermediate risk and nine were high risk; three patients (9.4%) in study group had tumor recurrence, all of which were high risk. The liver was the most frequent site of tumor metastasis. The recurrence-free survival (RFS) at 1 and 2 years were higher in the study group (100% VS 83.3%,95.7% VS 60.0%, P=0.002, HR=0.164), especially at the high risk GIST patients. ConclusionsThe patients classified into intermediate or high risk according to modified risk stratification can get the beneficial from adjuvant imatinib therapy.