Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most common mesenchymal neoplasm of the
gastrointestinal tract. Until recently, surgery has been the only effective therapy for GIST.
However, even after complete resection of tumor, many patients still eventually die of
disease recurrence. Conventional chemotherapy and radiation therapy have been of limited
value. Within the last few years, it was discovered that most GISTs have a gain-of-function
mutation in the c-kit proto-oncogene. This results in ligand-independent activation of the KIT …