ABSTRACT
Objective To analyze the clinical features and prognostic factors of gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Methods The clinical features and prognostic factors of51 Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors patients ,who were treated in people`s hospital of xin-jiang ugyur antonomous region from October 1997 to October 2009, were retrospectively analyzed .Results The 1-year, 3-year, 5-year overall survival rates of 51 cases were 85.4%,76.7%,70.7%respectively, a median of 52 months.The 1-year, 3-year, 5-year overall survival rates of the patients with >4 positive lymph nodes were lower than those of patients with ≤4nodes ( P <0.05 ) , The 1-year, 3-year, 5-year overall survival rates of the patients with positive expression of CD 117 were lower than those of patients with negtive CD117( P <0.05).The 1-year, 3-year, 5-yea r overall survival rates of the patients with recurrence and metastasis were low-er than those of patients without ( P <0.05 ) .Conclusions The prognosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumors is related with the posi-tive expression of CD117, recurrence and metastasis .
ABSTRACT
Imatinib, the first-line treatment in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), is generally well tolerated, although some patients have difficulty tolerating the standard dose of 400 mg/day. Adjusting imatinib dosage by plasma level monitoring may facilitate management of patients who experience intolerable toxicities due to overexposure to the drug. We present two cases of advanced GIST patients in whom we managed imatinib-related toxicities through dose modifications guided by imatinib plasma level monitoring. Imatinib blood level testing may be a promising approach for fine-tuning imatinib dosage for better tolerability and optimal clinical outcomes in patients with advanced GIST.