Primary gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the liver with lung metastases successfully treated with STI-571 (imatinib mesylate)

• Published in: Frontiers in bioscience Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 498 - 501
• Main Authors: De Chiara, Annarosaria, De Rosa, Vincenzo, Lastoria, Secondo, Franco, Renato, Botti, Gerardo, Iaffaioli, Vincenzo Rosario, Apice, Gaetano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.2006
• Subjects: Adult; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Benzamides; Cell Differentiation; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors - drug therapy; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors - pathology; Humans; Imatinib Mesylate; Liver Neoplasms - drug therapy; Liver Neoplasms - pathology; Male; Neoplasm Metastasis; Phenotype; Piperazines - therapeutic use; Positron-Emission Tomography; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit - biosynthesis; Pyrimidines - therapeutic use; Tissue Distribution; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Treatment Outcome; Vimentin - biosynthesis
• ISSN: 1093-9946; 1093-4715
• DOI: 10.2741/1813

We report a case of a primary malignant GIST of the liver metastatic to the lung in a 37 years-old man. The liver tumor showed histological feature of a GIST and expressed vimentin, and diffusely exhibited CD117. One year after the resection of the liver mass, the patient developed multiple small lung metastases which completely disappeared with STI-571 (imatinib mesylate--Gleevec) therapy. C.T. or PET did not show any mass in the abdomen. These findings suggest that the liver mass was a primary rather than a metastatic tumour. They also support the hypothesis that GIST could originate from undifferentiated mesenchymal cells capable to differentiate toward a pacemaker cell phenotype, which are present in sites other than the G.I. tract.