Unusual combination of paraneoplastic manifestations in a patient with metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST)

Scand J Gastroenterol. 2008 Aug;43(8):1012-5. doi: 10.1080/00365520801886090.

Abstract

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. Activating mutations in tyrosine kinase receptors KIT or platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA) are the main mechanisms causing the disease. Patients generally present with non-specific symptoms, while a number of tumors are discovered incidentally and may be metastatic at the time of diagnosis. Aggressive GISTs have a defined pattern of metastasis to the liver or throughout the abdomen, or both. Though GISTs rarely present systemic or isolated paraneoplastic reactions, a few cases have been reported in the literature. We present the case of a 54-year-old patient with metastatic GIST at diagnosis and the emergence of paraneoplastic manifestations during follow-up.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Biopsy
  • Cecal Diseases / diagnosis
  • Cecal Diseases / etiology*
  • Colonoscopy
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors / complications
  • Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Hypoglycemia / diagnosis
  • Hypoglycemia / etiology*
  • Liver Neoplasms / complications
  • Liver Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Liver Neoplasms / secondary*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Paraneoplastic Syndromes / diagnosis
  • Paraneoplastic Syndromes / etiology*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed