Cancer Res Treat.  2022 Oct;54(4):1167-1174. 10.4143/crt.2021.1040.

Adjuvant Imatinib Treatment for 5 Years versus 3 Years in Patients with Ruptured Localized Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor: A Retrospective Analysis

• Kang S
• Ryu MH
• Bang YH
• Kim HD
• Lee HE
• Kang YK

• KMID: 2534196
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4143/crt.2021.1040

Abstract

Purpose
Three years of adjuvant imatinib is the standard treatment for resected gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) with rupture, but the recurrence rate is prominently high. We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of 5-year adjuvant imatinib compared with 3-year treatment in patients with a ruptured GIST following surgical resection.
Materials and Methods
A total of 51 patients were included in the analysis. The assessment of GIST rupture was based on Nishida’s classification. Twenty patients who were diagnosed before November 2013 were treated with 5 years of imatinib, and 31 patients who were diagnosed after November 2013 were treated with 3 years of imatinib. We retrospectively compared the clinical outcomes of the two groups.
Results
Baseline characteristics and the incidence of the adverse events were generally comparable between the two groups. During a median follow-up duration of 43.8 months and 104.2 months in the 3- and 5-year group, 8 and 9 patients had a disease recurrence, respectively. The 5-year group showed better recurrence-free survival (RFS) than the 3-year group. In multivariate analysis, low mitotic index was a significant independent favorable prognostic factor for RFS, while 5-year imatinib treatment was marginally associated with a favorable RFS.
Conclusion
Five years of adjuvant imatinib treatment in patients with ruptured GIST was associated with favorable survival outcomes with manageable toxicity profiles. Our findings warrant validation and confirmation in future studies.

Keyword

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors; Rupture; Adjuvant chemotherapy; Imatinib

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Study flow diagram of patients who were included in the analysis. GIST, gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

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  Fig. 2 Recurrence-free survival (A) and overall survival (B) of all included patients.

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  Fig. 3 Comparison of RFS (A) and OS (B) according to adjuvant imatinib treatment duration. CI, confidence interval; OS, overall survival; RFS, recurrence-free survival.

Reference

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