PRE-OPERATIVE GASTRIC GIST DOWNSIZING: THE IMPORTANCE OF NEOADJUVANT THERAPY

INTRODUCTION: Gastric gastrointestinal tumors (GIST) are a rare and usually asymptomatic neoplasm that can present as abdominal mass in more advanced scenarios. Since surgical resection is the main aspect of the treatment, locally advanced tumors require multivisceral resection and, therefore, higher postoperative morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE: To perform a review the literature on the topic, with emphasis on the neoadjuvant therapy. METHODS: Literature review on the Medline database using the following descriptors: gastrointestinal stromal tumors, neoadjuvant therapy, imatinib mesylate and molecular targeted therapy. RESULTS: Surgical resection remains the cornerstone for the treatment of GISTs; however, tyrosine kinase inhibitors have improved survival as an adjuvant therapy. More recently, neoadjuvant therapy have been described in the treatment of locally advanced tumors in order to avoid multivisceral resection. CONCLUSION: Despite surgical resection remains as the most important aspect of the treatment of GISTs, adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors have shown to both improve survival and resectability, respectively.