Research Progress Of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) , the commonest mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, may originate from the pluripotential precursor cells like the interstitial cells of Cajal. Mutation of c-kit gene is very common in GIST, and results in continual activation of tyrosine kinase function, which causes uncontrolled cell proliferation and different tation, and at last, tumorogenesis. The mutation is also relative to the recurrence and prognosis of GISTs. Endoscopy is the primary method to discover GISTs, but final diagnosis depends on pathological examination. The size and mitotic count of the tumor play an important role in the diagnosis of the tumor. GIST is highly resistant to chemotherapy,surgery is the main therapeutic method,but there is an extraordinarily high rate of recurrence after surgical resection.STI571 is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, which may be effective for unresectable ormetastatic GISTs. however, many patients eventually develop resistance to imatinib. Primary imatinib resistance is related to mutations at exon 9 of Kit and exon 18 of PDGFRα. Secondary imatinib resistance is associated with secondary Kit mutation.