Contemporary treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors

Great revolutionary changes have occurred in the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST) due to the discovery and development of molecularly targeted therapy with imatinib and sunitinib, which have led to publication of several clinical guidelines for GIST. However, despite enhanced understanding of the clinical and molecular nature of GIST, there are many problems still remain. In this paper, I will focus on three GIST issues of great interest including: 1) laparoscopic surgery for GIST and gastrointestinal submucosal tumors; 2)multidisciplinary treatments for GIST, such as adjuvant therapy, neoadjuvant therapy, surgery during imatinib treatment, and surgery for focally imatinib-resistant GIST; and 3)the diagnosis and treatment of imatinib-resistant GIST.