Use of Imatinib Mesylate in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours: Pan-Birmingham Cancer Network Experience

Gastrointestinal stromal tumours of the stomach: Cytological and immunocytochemical diagnostic features of two cases diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration

“…These morphological data have been verified by histology and immunohistochemistry following a post-surgical examination of the resected tumours. Thus, an early, accurate diagnosis ensured the use of an appropriate therapy for the patients, and the two cases should be included in the suggested algorithm (CD117, CD34, vimentin and SMA) for GISTs, as has previously been described (5,14). …”

“…GISTs are found infrequently in adults prior to the age of 40, generally presenting with a peak incidence during the fifth and sixth decades and without significant gender differences (2,3,8). The histogenesis of these tumours has been attributed to the interstitial cells of Cajal, which are referred to as the pacemaker cells of the gastrointestinal tract (3–6) and which are immunohistochemically positive for CD117 (5–7,9). …”

“…However, they are considered to be potentially malignant (5,12–14) and therefore require a multidisciplinary approach to optimise the management of patients. An accurate and early diagnosis of these rare tumours affects the treatment, primarily allowing the chance of an optimal surgical resection, which may reduce the number of unresectable or metastatic GIST cases.…”

“…An accurate and early diagnosis of these rare tumours affects the treatment, primarily allowing the chance of an optimal surgical resection, which may reduce the number of unresectable or metastatic GIST cases. However, imatinib mesylate is now regarded as the revolutionary standard care in the first-line treatment of advanced GISTs (5,15–17). …”

Intraparietal esophageal leiomyomas diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology: Cytological and immunocytochemical features in two cases

“…In fact, the coexistence of desmin and SMA strongly supported the smooth muscle nature of the observed esophageal neoplastic lesions, while the constant negativity for CD34, CD117 and S-100 excluded other diagnostic hypotheses, including inflammatory fibroid polyps, GISTs and schwannomas. Consequently, the availability of an adequate number of serial sections obtained from tissue blocks appears to be an additional diagnostic aid in order to perform the indicated immunohistochemical algorithm, as described previously (15,19,20). Finally, the low growth fraction, revealed by the Ki67 labeling index in the present study, further indicates the benign nature of leiomyomas, thus discounting the diagnostic hypotheses of highly malignant neoplasms, including leiomyosarcomas, spindle-cell amelanotic melanomas and undifferentiated sarcomatoid carcinomas (14,15).…”