Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor A Clinicopathological Study

Background Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) are KIT-expressing signal driven mesenchymal tumours of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Currently the diagnosis of these tumours is based on study of histo morphologic features and Immunohistochemical (IHC) demonstration of CD117 which is essential to distinguish it from other mesenchymal tumours of GI tract. Surgical resection followed by adjuvant treatment of Tyrosine kinase inhibitor has got encouraging outcomes even in chemotherapy-resistant advanced GIST. AimTo present the clinical, radiological, histopathological and IHC features in seventeen cases. Material and MethodsMedical records of all seventeen patients were reviewed for their clinical presentation, laboratory investigations, radiological, histopathological and IHC findings in detail. Results In a series of 17 patients, eight were males and nine females. Mean age was 49 years with pain abdomen as the commonest symptom of presentation. Three of the 17 patients underwent only core needle biopsy, while fourteen operated specimens were available for gross, microscopic and IHC analysis. Small intestine was the commonest site of occurrence of the tumor. IHC marker CD 117 was positive in all the cases while CD 34 in three cases only. ConclusionGIST is a rare tumor. Histopathology and IHC are essential and together help to distinguish it from other mesenchymal tumours of the GI tracts. In this study of series of 17 cases of GISTs collected over a period of 10 year, small intestine was the commonest site.