What are the treatments of choice for GIST (gastrointestinal stromal tumor)?
The surgical resection is a treatment of choice for gastrointestinal stromal tumors. It has been shown that adequate surgical resection correlates with high 5-years survival rates for patients with gastric GIST.  When they are localized, the treatment of choice is surgical excision, but advanced tumors have a limited response to chemo or radiotherapy. Imatinib (STI571 or Glivec) is a selective inhibitor or tyrosine kinase proteins that has been used successfully in the treatment of advanced GIST.  