Gist Disease A Fatal Tumor

A gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST disease) is a highly dangerous disease

. It is one of the most common mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. It accounts for around 1-3% of all reported gastrointestinal malignancy cases. It is a cancer of the cells which form the structure of the stomach and intestine, not a cancer of the linings of the organ itself (that would be a carcinoma).

This means that it is usually painless and until it causes a swelling, or discomfort by pressing on other organs, or ruptures causing blood loss and anemia, it may remain undetected. Typically, they are categorized as tumors whose behavior are driven by mutations in the Kit gene or PDGFRA gene, and may or may not stain positively for Kit.

There are some specific signs and symptoms that physicians and gastrointestinal specialist doctors try to note in a patient who is suspected of having the GIST disease. A patient who has severe problems in swallowing, gastrointestinal hemorrhage or metastases (mainly in the liver) is a highly plausible case of the GIST disease. In the case of this ailment, intestinal obstruction is observed in very few cases because the tumor involved has a general tendency to grow outwards. Experienced doctors also talk about cases when patients having a history of vague abdominal pain or discomfort have been detected with the GIST disease later on. In such cases, it gets even more fatal since the tumor becomes rather large by the time the doctors are able to perform the accurate diagnosis. The disease is resistant to radiotherapy and traditional chemotherapies and until recently survival beyond a year with advanced GIST disease was very rare. But with added technological expertise to assist doctors in diagnosis, a definitive result is often given after the successful conduction of a biopsy on the patient. This biopsy can be performed endoscopically, percutaneously with CT or ultrasound guidance or directly at the time of surgery. Also, most doctors play it safe by also conducting a blood test for the patient.

GIST disease tests positive in the pathology laboratory for c-kit/CD117. It is a test which requires great expertise on the part of the pathologist and so it should be performed with due care by a properly experienced personnel. This test is widely considered offered a definitive diagnosis of GIST disease which leaves no semblance of doubt. Another reason behind this pathological test becoming so popular in such a short time is its ability to reveal a molecule on the tumor cell which switches the cancer on or off. A CD117 positive, or c-KIT + tumor offers a precise and accurate diagnosis of GIST disease and opens the way to treatment with imatinib.

by: Pankaj Modi

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