Intermediate and High Risk Localized, Completely Resected, Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST) Expressing KIT Receptor: A Controlled Randomized Trial on Adjuvant Imatinib Mesylate (Glivec) Versus No Further Therapy After Complete Surgery

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

• Assess whether there is a difference in overall survival between intermediate and high-risk localized GIST patients undergoing complete surgery alone and those undergoing complete surgery plus adjuvant imatinib mesylate 400 mg daily for two years Secondary
• Assess whether there is a difference in relapse-free survival and relapse-free interval between GIST undergoing complete surgery alone and those undergoing surgery + adjuvant Imatinib mesylate 400 mg daily for two years.
• Determine the safety of this drug in these patients.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, open-label, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to participating center, risk category (high vs intermediate), tumor site (gastric vs other), and resection level (R0 vs R1).

• Arm I: Patients receive adjuvant oral imatinib mesylate once daily for 2 years in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
• Arm II: Patients are observed (without receiving further antitumoral therapy) every 3 months for 2 years.