GIST Surgery
If you have been diagnosed with GIST, your doctor may likely recommend that the tumor be surgically removed.
The goal of GIST surgery is complete removal of the tumor. However, depending on the size and location of the tumor, this is not always possible. Even if the tumor can be completely removed, it is important to understand that GIST surgery may not cure your disease. GIST has a high rate of recurrence, which means the tumor may come back at the location of the original tumor or elsewhere in your body.
The likelihood that you will have a GIST return after surgery depends on the size and location of the original tumor and how fast it was growing:
- For tumors that were slow growing and small (less than 5 centimeters [about 2 inches or less] wide), the risk is low. Fewer than 10% of patients will have a recurrence after the tumor is removed
- For tumors that were fast growing, the risk of a tumor returning can be more than 50% (after removal of a small GIST), and as high as 90% (after removal of a GIST that was more than 10 centimeters [more than 41/2 inches] wide)
Your doctor will continue to monitor you after surgery to watch for recurrences.
Your doctor may also recommend that you receive treatment with a type of medicine called a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) after surgery. TKIs are used to reduce the chance of disease recurrence after surgery.
Be sure to ask your doctor if TKI therapy after surgery is right for you.
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