Outcomes of Patients with Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors in the Past Decade.

In this updated study on the outcomes of patients with GISTs, we found that non-Hispanic Black patients, male patients, and patients older than 60 years have a higher mortality with GISTs. Furthermore, patients who have received chemotherapy have a higher GIST-specific mortality, and married patients have a lower mortality. However, we do not know to what extent these independent prognostic factors interact with each other to influence mortality. This study paves the way for future studies addressing these interactions. The results of this study may help treating clinicians to identify patient populations associated with a dismal prognosis, as those may require closer follow-up and more intensive therapy; furthermore, with married patients having a better survival rate, we hope to encourage clinicians to involve family members of the affected patients early in the disease course, as the social support might impact the prognosis.