Understanding GIST
Symptoms
Patients with GIST may be asymptomatic (31%) or symptomatic.1 Asymptomatic GISTs can be discovered incidentally during endoscopy or laparoscopy as well as during computed tomography (CT). 2 Symptomatic GIST patients may present with a range of symptoms associated with the location of the tumour, growth pattern, and size. GIST may present anywhere along the GI tract. GI bleeding is the most common GIST symptom. In fact, about half of GIST patients have abdominal pain and GI bleeding.
| Symptom | Occurrence Rate |
|---|---|
| Abdominal pain | 20%-50% |
| GI bleeding | 50% |
| GI obstruction | 10%-30% |
| Asymptomatic | 20% |
Reprinted with permission from Ghanem N, et al. Eur Radiol. 2003;13:1669-1678.3
Most patients present with:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Pain
- Weight loss
- Palpable tumour masses
- Bleeding leading to anaemia3
- The average duration of presenting symptoms is 4-6 months.3
Upon diagnosis, GISTs range in size from 2 cm to 30 cm. Tumour size is a key prognostic factor for patients with GIST.4 GISTs occur most frequently in the stomach (40%-70%), followed by the small intestine (20%-40%), colon and rectum (5%-15%), omentum (<5%), oesophagus (<5%), and rarely in the mesentery or retroperitoneum.2
Frequent GIST Occurrence Distribution
References:
1. Kindblom LG. Gastrointestinal stromal tumors: diagnosis, epidemiology, prognosis. Available at: www.asco.org. Accessed July 13, 2007.
2. Joensuu H, Fletcher C, Dimitrijevic S, Silberman S, Roberts P, Demetri G. Management of malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumours. Lancet Oncol. 2002;3:655-664.
3. Ghanem N, Altehoefer C, Furtwangler A, et al. Computed tomography in gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Eur Radiol. 2003;13:1669-1678.
4. Corless CL, Fletcher JA, Heinrich MC. Biology of gastrointestinal stromal tumors. J Clin Oncol. 2004;22:3813-3825.