What Are Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors?
The stomach is a sac-like organ that holds food and begins the digestive process by secreting gastric juice. The food and gastric juices are mixed into a thick fluid called chyme that is then emptied into the small intestine. The small intestine ... [... more]
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How Are Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors Diagnosed?
These studies (tests) use a barium-containing solution that coats the lining of the esophagus, stomach, and intestines. The coating of barium helps find abnormalities of the lining of these organs. These are sometimes useful for the diagnosis of ... [... more]
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How Are Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors Staged?
Doctors describe the extent of spread of most types of cancer by using a staging system. The most common system used is the TNM system of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC). (T stands for the size of the tumor, N stands for spread to ... [... more]
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What Are the Risk Factors for Gastrointestinal Stromal ...
In rare cases, GISTs have been found in several members within the same family. These family members inherited a gene mutation that leads to GIST (see next section). But most GISTs are sporadic (they are not passed down from generation to ... [... more]
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What Happens After Treatment for Gastrointestinal ...
Because of the risk that a gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) may come back after treatment, most doctors recommend imaging tests (such as CT scans) and follow-up visits every 3 to 6 months for 5 years after treatment, then yearly after ... [... more]
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What Should You Ask Your Doctor About Gastrointestional ...
Will my insurance plan pay for the cost of all of the treatments that are recommended? As you cope with cancer and cancer treatment, we encourage you to talk openly with your doctor, nurse, and cancer care team. You should feel free to ask any ... [... more]
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Do We Know What Causes Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors?
In recent years, scientists have made great progress in learning how certain changes in DNA can cause normal cells to become cancerous. DNA is the chemical that carries the instructions for nearly everything our cells do. We look like our parents ... [... more]
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What's New in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors Research ...
There has been a great deal of progress in recent years, especially in treating gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). As researchers have come to understand the genetic changes that cause these tumors, they've been able to use newer treatments ... [... more]
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What Are the Key Statistics About Gastrointestinal ...
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are not common, but the exact number of people diagnosed with this tumor each year is not known. Based on various studies, estimates for the total number of GIST cases each year in the United States have ... [... more]
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How Is Small Intestine Adenocarcinoma Diagnosed?
If there is a reason to suspect you may have a small intestinal cancer, the doctor will use one or more methods to find out if the disease is really present. The symptoms of small bowel tumors are often vague. In one study, it took more than 6 ... [... more]
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How Is Small Intestine Adenocarcinoma Staged?
Staging is a process that tells the doctor how widespread your cancer may be when you are first diagnosed. It will show if the cancer has spread and how far. The treatment and outlook for small intestine cancer depends, to a large extent, on its ... [... more]
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How Are Gastrointestional Stromal Tumors Treated?
Revised: 03/13/2006 This information represents the views of the doctors and nurses serving on the American Cancer Society's Cancer Information Database Editorial Board. These views are based on their interpretation of studies published in ... [... more]
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