Purpose: Like other malignancies, GI stromal tumors (GIST) are highly heterogeneous. This not only applies to histologic features and malignant potential, but also to geographic incidence rates. Several studies have reported GIST incidence and prevalence in Europe and North America. In contrast, GIST incidence rates in South America are largely unknown, and only a few studies have reported GIST prevalence in Latin America.
Patients and methods: Our study was part of a collaborative effort between Chile and Mexico, called Salud con Datos. We sought to determine GIST prevalence and patients' clinical characteristics, including survival rates, through retrospective analysis.
Results: Overall, 624 patients were included in our study. Our results found significant differences between Mexican and Chilean registries, such as stage at diagnosis, primary tumor location, CD117-positive immunohistochemistry status, mitotic index, and tumor size. Overall survival (OS) times for Chilean and Mexican patients with GIST were 134 and 156 months, respectively. No statistically significant differences in OS were detected by sex, age, stage at diagnosis, or recurrence status in both cohorts. As expected, patients categorized as being at high risk of recurrence displayed a trend toward poorer progression-free survival in both registries.
Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest report from Latin America assessing the prevalence, clinical characteristics, postsurgery risk of recurrence, and outcomes of patients with GIST. Our data confirm surgery as the standard treatment of localized disease and confirm a poorer prognosis in patients with regional or distant disease. Finally, observed differences between registries could be a result of registration bias.