Gastrointestinal stromal tumor treatment often involves surgery and targeted therapy. Which treatments are best for you depends on your situation. This cancer, which also is called a GIST, happens in the digestive system.
Some GISTs don't need treatment right away. Very small GISTs that don't cause symptoms might not need treatment. Instead, you might have tests to see if the cancer grows. If your GIST grows, you can start treatment.
Surgery
The goal of surgery is to remove all the GIST. It's often the first treatment for GISTs that haven't spread to other parts of the body.
Surgery might not be used if your tumor grows very large or if it grows into nearby structures. If this happens, your first treatment might be targeted therapy to shrink the tumor. You might have surgery later.
The type of operation you have depends on your cancer. Often surgeons can access the GIST using minimally invasive surgery. This means surgical tools go through small cuts in the abdomen rather than through one large cut.
Targeted therapy
Targeted therapy for cancer is a treatment that uses medicines that attack specific chemicals in the cancer cells. By blocking these chemicals, targeted treatments can cause cancer cells to die. For GISTs, the target of these medicines is an enzyme called tyrosine kinase that helps cancer cells grow.
Targeted therapy for GISTs often begins with imatinib (Gleevec). Targeted treatments can be given:
- After surgery to lower the risk that the cancer will come back.
- Before surgery to shrink the tumor and make it easier to remove.
- As the first treatment if the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
- If the GIST comes back.
Other targeted therapy medicines might be used if imatinib doesn't work for you or if it stops working. Targeted therapy is an active area of cancer research, and new medicines are likely to become options in the future.