UC San Diego

Purpose

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is associated with increased risk of additional cancers. In this study, synchronous GIST, and peritoneal mesothelioma (PM) were characterized to evaluate the relationship between these two cancers.

Methods

A retrospective chart review was conducted for patients diagnosed with both GIST and PM between July 2010 and June 2021. Patient demographics, past tumor history, intraoperative reports, cross-sectional imaging, peritoneal cancer index (PCI) scoring, somatic next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis, and histology were reviewed.

Results

Of 137 patients who underwent primary GIST resection from July 2010 to June 2021, 8 (5.8%) were found to have synchronous PM, and 4 patients (50%) had additional cancers and/or benign tumors. Five (62.5%) were male, and the median age at GIST diagnosis was 57 years (range: 45-76). Seventy-five percent of GISTs originated from the stomach. Of the eight patients, one patient had synchronous malignant mesothelioma (MM), and the remaining had well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma (WDPM), which were primarily located in the region of the primary GIST (89%). The median PCI score was 2 in the WDPM patients. NGS of GIST revealed oncogenic KIT exon 11 (62.5%), PDGFRA D842V (25%), or SDH (12.5%) mutations, while NGS of the MM revealed BAP1 and PBRM1 alterations.

Conclusions

One in 17 GIST patients undergoing resection in this series have PM, which is significantly higher than expected if these two diseases were considered as independent events. Our results indicate that synchronous co-occurrence of GIST and PM is an underrecognized finding, suggesting a possible relationship that deserves further investigation.