Gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the stomach: Report of a case

We report herein the case of a 70-year-old woman found to have a gastrointe stinal stromal tumor (GIST) of the stomach. Preoperative X-ray and endoscop ic examination revealed a hemispheric submucosal tumor with central depress ion in the anterior wall of the gastric fornix. The tumor, which was 3 cm i n diameter, was resected by a laparoscopy-assisted procedure. Histologic ex amination revealed that it was composed of spindle-shaped cells with elonga ted nuclei, and few mitoses. Most of the tumor cells showed immunoreactivit y for vimentin and CD34, but not for alpha -smooth muscle actin, desmin, or S-100 protein. The PCNA index was 40.5%. Thus, the GIST did not show diffe rentiation toward smooth muscle or neural cells. A gastrectomy was not perf ormed because the small size of the tumor, and:the paucity of the mitoses i ndicated that it was benign. Nevertheless, careful and long-term follow-up is needed to monitor for signs of possible local recurrence or distant meta stases.