Comparison of Clinical Efficacy of Liver Resection, RFA, TACE, and Drug Therapy in Patients with GIST LM

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) represent the most prevalent type of mesenchymal tumor within the gastrointestinal tract, and the liver is the most common site of metastasis from GIST. Imatinib (IM) has significantly enhanced clinical outcomes for patients with advanced disease. Since its approval in February 2002 for treating metastatic or unresectable GISTs, 38% of patients have shown a partial response, while 13.6% have experienced disease progression within 1 to 3 months of IM administration. Over half of the patients with metastases experienced disease progression within two years of IM treatment, attributed to secondary drug resistance. Few studies are comparing the survival benefits of different surgical modalities. The investigators aimed to evaluate IM combined with hepatic resection (HR) or other local treatments such as radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), compared to IM monotherapy in long-term survival benefits in patients suffering from GIST liver metastases.