Effect of imatinib treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors

• Published in: Orvosi hetilap Vol. 144; no. 45; p. 2207
• Main Authors: Eckhardt, Sándor, Pápai, Zsuzsanna, Bodoky, György, Horti, József, Tamás, Karin, Nagy, Tünde, Orosz, Zsolt, Sápi, Zoltán, Gödény, Mária, Jakab, Klára, Esik, Olga, Trón, Lajos, Besznyák, István
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Hungarian
• Published: Hungary 09.11.2003
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Antineoplastic Agents - administration & dosage; Antineoplastic Agents - adverse effects; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Benzamides; Drug Administration Schedule; Enzyme Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Female; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms - drug therapy; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms - pathology; Humans; Imatinib Mesylate; Liver Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Liver Neoplasms - drug therapy; Liver Neoplasms - secondary; Male; Middle Aged; Piperazines - administration & dosage; Piperazines - adverse effects; Piperazines - therapeutic use; Pyrimidines - administration & dosage; Pyrimidines - adverse effects; Pyrimidines - therapeutic use; Remission Induction; Stromal Cells; Survival Analysis; Tomography, Emission-Computed; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0030-6002

Advanced malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumours are practically resistant to further radio- or chemotherapy. These tumours are characterized by the presence of C-KIT (a transmembrane tyrosin kinase) mutation which can be specified by CD117 expression. Imatinib (2-fenilaminopirimidine) is a selective inhibitor of the mutated C-KIT. The purpose of our study was to determine the potential antitumour effect of imatinib in patients with gastrointestinal stroma tumour patients. An open, non-randomized trial was performed involving 38 patients each of which had received/metastatic disease associated with CD117 positivity. Consecutively daily doses of 400-600 mg imatinib was administered orally to the patients. The evaluation was carried out on 37 patients in a form of an interim analysis. After a 3-18 months observation period 1 complete, 19 partial remissions and 10 static diseases could be registered (78%), in association of only grade 1-2 toxicity. The imatinib treatment improved the quality of life of the patients with gastrointestinal stroma tumour and their life expectancy became considerably prolonged. Further follow-up of the patients as well as design of a prospective, randomized trial on a larger patient material is urgently needed.