In Very Rare Cases, GIST and Liposarcoma Appear Concurrently

A literature review and case study published in the International Journal of Surgical Oncology reports 5 cases of concurrent gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) and intra-abdominal liposarcoma.

Although GIST quite frequently occurs at the same time as other malignancies, its coexistence with liposarcomas, which are also of mesenchymal origin, is extremely rare. 

“Although coincidence may be the answer, the hypothesis of gene mutations or a carcinogenic agent resulting in 2 tumors of the same origin cannot be excluded,” the researchers wrote. They added that more research is needed to “explain the possible causation of the synchronous occurrence of 2 mesenchymal tumors and define the best treatment strategy.” Until then, they said, the treatment of choice remains radical excision of both tumors.

Read more about GIST comorbidities

The researchers, led by Konstantinos Tepetes, professor of general surgery in the Department of Surgical Specialties at the University of Thessaly in Greece, electronically searched the literature using Medline and identified 3 cases in which both malignancies co-occurred. 

In their paper, they also present the 2 most recent cases in which both malignancies co-occurred.

The first is that of an 86-year-old man with GIST and liposarcoma, both in his stomach, who underwent surgery but received no adjuvant treatment. The second is that of a 66-year-old man with a gastric GIST and retroperitoneal liposarcoma who was also treated with surgery. However, because cancer cells were detected at the resection margin of the liposarcoma, he was also treated with adjuvant chemotherapy with palbociclib. He was disease-free at his 6-month follow-up but died of a heart attack 13 months later. The first patient remained disease-free at his follow-up 5 years after surgery.

Reference

Diamantis A, Samara AA, Baloyiannis I, et al. Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) and synchronous intra-abdominal liposarcoma: a report of two rare cases and literature review. Int J Surg Oncol. 2021;2021:2626635. doi:10.1155/2021/2626635