Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine · Vol. 2, No. 1 · 2015 · pp. 69–71 · e-ISSN 2377-1518

Knowledge of the Molecular Signaling Pathways Improves the Chances of Treatment of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors

Joana Espiga de Macedo

Oncologist, Department of Medical Oncology, Centro Hospitalar de Entre o Douro e Vouga, PortugalPortugal

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17140/csmmoj-2-109 · Published 2015-08-05 · Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 · © 2015 The Author(s)

Also available as PDF (figures and tables appear in the PDF).

Abstract

Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal (nonepithelial) tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. A better molecular understanding of this entity, as Christopher L. Cordless in Modern Pathology in 20141 demonstrated, GISTs mainly a result from two-level changes in two Oncogenes: KIT oncogene (75%) and PDGFRA oncogene (α receptor platelet-derived growth factor) which occurs in about 10% of cases; the remaining 15% are designated wild type tumors.

Acknowledgement

Joana Espiga de Macedo has received funds for serving as a Speaker, such as Consultant and/or an Advisory Board Member for Celgene, Merck, Pharma Mar and Roche.

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