Clinicopathological Features and Prognosis of Small Gastric Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs)

Background The aim of the present study was to evaluate the safety of endoscopic surgery, the clinicopathological features, and prognoses of small gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Methods Small gastric GIST patients (diameter: 0.10–2.00 cm) resected endoscopically in Zhongshan Hospital were retrospectively identified and clinicopathological features and outcomes were collected. The relationship between clinicopathological characteristics and tumor recurrence was analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to determine the optimal tumor diameter for predicting malignant potential. Results All lesions were completely removed by endoscopy and En bloc resection was 98.5%. The most frequent location was the gastric fundus (60.3%) and the average diameter of all lesions was 1.20 cm (range: 0.10–2.00 cm). Mitoses were calculated as more than 5/50 HPF in 44 (6.8%) patients and nuclear atypia was moderate in 243 (37.5%) patients, severe in 1 (0.2%). Necrosis, mucosal infiltration, and vascular infiltration were detected in 8 (1.2%), 5 (0.7%), and 3 (0.5%) patients, respectively. Tumor size was positively correlated with mitotic index ( P < 0.001) and nuclear atypia (P < 0.001). After a median follow-up of 54 months, four patients were confirmed local recurrence. ROC curve analysis identified 1.45 cm as the best cut-off value to predict malignant potential (95% CI: 0·694–0·774). Survival analysis showed that patients with tumor diameters larger than 1.45 cm were associated with more local recurrences after resection ( P = 0.011). Conclusions Endoscopic surgery is feasible and safe for small gastric GISTs, especially those in favorable locations. Small gastric GISTs bear a good prognosis as a whole but those with diameters larger than 1.45 cm should receive more intensive surveillance or undergo endoscopic surgery.