Overview
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are soft-tissue sarcomas that can be located in any part of the digestive system. Their most common sites are the stomach and small intestine.
GISTs start in specialized nerve cells located in the walls of your digestive system. These cells are part of the autonomic nervous system. A specific change in the DNA of one of these cells, which control such digestive processes as movement of food through the intestines, gives rise to a GIST.
GISTs can develop in people of all ages, but they are most common between age 50 and 70, and they almost never occur before age 40. In rare cases, an inherited genetic change (mutation) causes GISTs.
SYMPTOMS
All large or symptomatic GISTs should be surgically removed unless they are too large or they involve too many organs and tissues for surgery (resection). Resection is also delayed or avoided in people whose general health makes any surgery too risky to undertake, as well as those likely to have metastatic GISTs.
It's often possible to resect GISTs using minimally invasive surgery, which involves inserting a viewing tube (laparoscope) and surgical instruments through small incisions in the abdomen.
