The emerging role of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1r) in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs)

Recent years have seen a growing interest in insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) in medical oncology. Interesting data have been reported also on IGF1r in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) especially in children and in young adult patients whose disease does not harbour mutations on KIT and PDGFRA and are poorly responsive to conventional therapies. However, it is too early to reach conclusions on IGF1R as a novel therapeutic target in GIST because the receptor's biological role is still to be defined and the clinical significance in patients needs to be studied in larger studies. We update and comment the current literature on IGF1R in GISTs and discuss the future perspectives in this promising field.