e20511 Background: The benefits of long-term (36 months) use of adjuvant imatinib (IM) in high risk GIST patients (pts) have been demonstrated in a recent multicenter, prospective clinical trial that compared efficacy and safety of 3 years vs 1 year IM treatment. However, in clinical practice, there is no consensus on the optimal IM treatment duration after surgery. The objective of this retrospective observational study was to compare the risk of recurrence and survival among primary resectable Kit positive GIST pts treated with adjuvant IM for a short vs an extended period of time in a real-world setting. Methods: Information on adult pts with primary resectable Kit positive GIST initiating imatinib ≤84 days after surgery was collected from 248 U.S. oncologists using an online data collection form. Detailed pt information following first GIST diagnosis, including demographic, GIST-related characteristics (e.g., risk profile), comorbidity profile, IM treatment characteristics, disease recurrence and mortality was collected for pts with short-term (6-12 months) and long-term IM use (≥24 months). Disease recurrence and mortality rates were estimated from the 1st surgery date to the 1st evidence of recurrence, mortality, or end of observation period. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were used to compare recurrence and mortality rates between short vs long term IM use pts. Results: Among the 246 short-term and 395 long-term IM pts, the median follow up was 884 and 963 days, respectively. The average age was similar [59.0 (10.4) vs 58.1 (9.5); p=.23] but short-term pts had less males [57.7% vs 69.6% (p<.01)] and a lower Miettinen risk score [0.3 vs 0.4, p< .01)] than long-term pts. Disease recurrence [7.3 vs 1.8%, (p< .01)] and mortality rates [6.9% vs 2.3%, (p < .01)] were also higher in short- vs long-term pts. The adjusted risk of recurrence was 4.77 times [95% CI: 1.98 – 11.48, (p<.01)] higher and mortality risk was 3.44 times [CI: 1.53 – 7.75, (p<.01)] higher in short- vs long-term pts. Conclusions: Use of IM over an extended period of time is associated with a reduction in long-term risk of disease recurrence and mortality.