Survival trends in advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor patients: A population-based study.
136 Background: In February 2002, imatinib was approved by US FDA for treatment of patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). This study was performed to evaluate survival trends in patients with advanced GIST in pre- (1992-2001) and post- (2002-2008) imatinib era in the United States. Methods: We selected adult patients (≥18 years) with advanced GIST (regional and distant metastasis based on SEER’s LRD staging) from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 18 database diagnosed during 1992-2008. We excluded patients diagnosed at autopsy or from death certificate only, or those without survival date. We analyzed 1- and 3- year relative survival (RS) rates of the patients by age (all ages,18-64yrs,64+yrs), race [White, Black and Others (American Indian/AK Native, Asian/Pacific Islander)], and gender in pre-imatinib (1992-2001) and post-imatinib (2002-2008) eras. We used Z-test in SEER*Stat to compare RS rates. Results: There were total of 1,734 cases of advanced GIST (regional and distant metastasis) during the study duration. Of the total population, 744 were females and 990 were males. The 1- and 3- year RS rates were significantly higher for patients diagnosed in post-imatinib era compared to those in pre-imatinib era (83.8±1.1% vs 72.5±2.3%; Z 4.47 at one year and 68.8±1.4% vs 51.0± 2.6%; Z 6.25). The survival rates in younger patients (18-64 years) improved significantly in post-imatinib era compared to pre-imatinib era (88.60±1.2% vs 74.20±2.9%; Z 5.19 at 1 year and 75±1.6% vs 56.1±3.4%; Z 5.81 at 3 years). Among older patients, there was improvement in 3- year survival rate (76.90±2% vs 70.40±3.5%; Z 1.22 at 1 year and 59.80±2.5% vs 44.9±4%; Z 2.82 at 3 years). Survival rates improved for both sexes and for Whites and Blacks (1 year RS: 83.80±1.3% vs 73.40±vs2.6%; Z 3.45 for Whites and 85±2.4% vs 68.80±6%; Z 2.53 for Blacks; 3 year RS: 68.60±1.7% vs 51.20±3.1%; Z 5.02 for Whites and 69.10±3.3% vs 42.6±6.6%; Z 3.76 for Blacks). There was no improvement in survival rates for Others. Conclusions: Overall, survival rates of advanced GIST patients have improved significantly in post-imatinib era compared to pre-imatinib era. There was no improvement in survival rates of Others.