Gastrointestinal stromal tumors—are we stuck and the way forward

Casali et al. recently published the much-awaited long-term results of the Euro-Australasian phase III randomized trial comparing standard dose of 400 mg imatinib daily with a higher dose of 400 mg twice daily in patients with advanced or metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) (1). In summary, the study indicated that there is a small subset of patients who are long-term survivors and that a lower tumor burden might predict better survival (1). These results can serve as a guiding torch towards future research to improve our present understanding and management of GIST.