Clinical characteristics and surgical treatment of oesophageal gastrointestinal stromal tumours

Objective: Oesophageal gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) are extremely rare. The preoperative diagnosis is complicated by lack of specificity and the clinical features of patients with oesophageal GISTs need to be fully studied. Methods: We have reviewed retrospectively the medical records of those patients who are treated surgically for oesophageal GISTs in our two hospitals. Results: Eight oesophageal GISTs were identified among the 63 oesophageal mesenchymal tumours in our two hospitals in the past 30 years. Of the eight patients, the male:female ratio was 5:3; the median age of the patients was 57 years (range 49–71 years). Dysphagia was the most common symptom, and all cases were diagnosed postoperatively. The tumours were resected by enucleation or oesophagectomy. The median follow-up was 59 months, ranging from 14 to 202 months, with four of the patients succumbing to the disease, among them two with recurrence and another two with metastasis. Conclusions: Our study indicates that oesophageal GIST is rather rare, and it has relatively high recurrence and mortality rates, especially for patients with large tumours (larger than 9 cm). At present, surgical resection and postoperative diagnosis remain the mainstay for treatment of patients with oesophageal GISTs in China.