Objectives: To describe the spectrum of small intestine gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) cases; and to analyse prognostic factors.
Study design: Descriptive study.
Place and duration of study: Kartal Dr. Lütfi Kirdar City Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey, from 2010 to 2020.
Methodology: Forty patients with small intestine GIST followed up between 2010-2020 were included in this study. The demographic information and clinical laboratory, histopathology, and radiology findings of all patients were analysed and compared. Five-year overall survival (OS) rate and five-year disease-free survival (DFS)were calculated.
Results: The mean patient age at diagnosis was 58.9 ± 12.6 years (34-79 years). Thirty-seven (92.5%) tumours were in the jejunum and ileum, and three (7.5%) were in the duodenum. The most common symptoms were bleeding (50%) and pain (37.5%). A total of 5% of the patients were asymptomatic, and 67.5% were in the high-risk group. Two patients (5%) died within a 30-day postoperative period, and 13 (32.5%) died during the follow-up period. The five-year overall survival (OS) rate was 54.2%. The mean five-year OS and five-year disease-free survival (DFS) were 47.5 ± 16.8 months and 40.9 ± 25.0 months, respectively. The mortality risk was calculated as 4.5-fold increased in the patients aged over 60 years and as 3.556-fold increased in those with recurrence/metastasis detected in their follow-ups.
Conclusion: The OS ratio and OS duration were not as high as expected for small intestine GIST cases. Tumour diameter, mitotic index, and risk classification may not provide sufficient information for prognosis prediction in some cases. The frequency of recurrence and/or metastasis was higher than expected - although complete resection was achieved. Key Words: Gastrointestinal stromal tumours, Small intestine, Tumour diameter, Mitotic index.