Effectiveness of radiation therapy in GIST: A case report
Case Report

Effectiveness of radiation therapy in GIST: A case report

Joshua Halpern1, Yong-June Kim1, Rumana Sultana2, Gina Villani2

1Department of Radiation Oncology,2Department of Hematology Oncology, Brooklyn Hospital Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Corresponding to: Joshua Noah Halpern, MD. Department of Radiation Oncology, Brooklyn Hospital Center, 121 DeKalb Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA. Tel: 718-250-8899; Fax: 718-250-8532. Email: jhalpern01@yahoo.com.

Keywords: Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST); radiation therapy; intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT); imatinib mesylate; mesenchymal tumor

Submitted Aug 11, 2011. Accepted for publication Sep 24, 2011.

doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2078-6891.2011.046

Introduction

Over the last decade, gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) became the most commonly diagnosed mesenchymal tumor of the gastrointestinal tract (1,2). Population-based studies suggest an annual incidence of between 11 and 14.5 per million and a prevalence of 129 per million (3). The immunohistochemistry of GIST shows the presence of cell-surface antigen CD117 (KIT), which represents a defining characteristic of GIST (4-7). Immunostaining is essential to differentiate GISTs from other more rare mesenchymal tumors. Differential diagnosis includes leiomyosarcomas, leiomyomas and schwannomas (3). It is believed that GISTs arise from a neoplastic transformation of the intestinal pacemaker cells known as the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) (6,