Postoperative imatinib in patients with intermediate risk gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

Aim: To determine whether imatinib adjuvant treatment improved recurrence-free survival (RFS) in gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) with intermediate risk.

Materials & Methods: Patients who had undergone complete tumor resection with intermediate risk were enrolled.

Results: A total of 99 patients received imatinib adjuvant therapy and 93 patients only received observation. The RFS in patients who received adjuvant therapy was superior to RFS in control group (p = 0.004). GIST with location of intestine or rectum and GIST with exon 11 deletion mutation had longer RFS.

Conclusion: Adjuvant imatinib improves RFS of GIST with intermediate risk of recurrence, particularly in GIST with intestinal and rectal location or c-kit gene exon 11 deletion mutation.