The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of imatinib mesylate in unresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) and to discuss its therapeutic regimen. A patient with unresectable GIST is described, and several key clinical studies are reviewed, including the clinical trials B2222 and S0033, which contain recently reported results of the long-term clinical outcome of imatinib in patients with unresectable or metastatic GIST. The recent results of the two studies demonstrate the long-term efficacy and safety of imatinib for unresectable or metastatic GIST. A positive response to imatinib treatment was observed in the present patient, which is consistent with the data of the B2222 and S0033 trials. However, further long-term, large-scale, multicenter and controlled trials are required to determine the relative efficacy of combining imatinib agents with surgical procedures or administering imatinib alone.
Keywords: gastrointestinal stromal tumor; imatinib; literature review; unresectable.