• Piotr Rutkowski, Zbigniew Nowecki, Pawel Nyckowski, Wirginiusz Dziewirski, Urszula Grzesiakowska, Anna Nasierowska-Guttmejer, Marek Krawczyk, and Wlodzimierz Ruka.
• Department of Soft Tissue/Bone Sarcoma and Melanoma, M. Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology, Warsaw, Poland. rutkowskip@coi.waw.pl
• J Surg Oncol. 2006 Mar 15; 93 (4): 304-11.

BackgroundThe aim of the study was to analyze the surgical possibilities of unresectable and/or metastatic GIST CD117(+) patients during imatinib treatment.MethodsWe analyzed the results of surgery in 141 patients treated with imatinib for initially inoperable and/or metastatic GIST CD117(+). Median follow-up time was 12 months (range: 3-26).ResultsSurgery was performed as subsequent treatment in 24 patients (Group I, 17%) for resection of residual disease after complete/partial response and lack of further response to imatinib and as salvage therapy in eight patients (Group II, 6%), who progressed on initially successful imatinib therapy. In Group I, the viable GIST cells were not detected histologically in only three resection specimens. The first five patients in Group I did not receive imatinib further and we observed four recurrences. In next 19 patients, continuing imatinib after surgery, we observed only one relapse. In Group II, we continued imatinib therapy after high-risk surgical procedures, but in five patients we observed subsequent progression.ConclusionsSurgical removal of residual disease during imatinib treatment may allow for complete remission in selected GIST patients after response to therapy, theoretically prolonging durable remission, but it is necessary to continue imatinib for its maintenance.(c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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