Treatment of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors(GISTs) that are metastatic (spread to other parts of the body) or recurrent (came back after treatment) may include the following:
- Targeted therapy with imatinib mesylate.
- Targeted therapy with sunitinib, if the tumor begins to grow during imatinib mesylate therapy or if the side effects are too bad.
- Surgery to remove tumors that have been treated with targeted therapy and are shrinking, stable (not changing), or that have slightly increased in size. Targeted therapy may continue after surgery.
- Surgery to remove tumors when there are serious complications, such as bleeding, a hole in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, a blocked GI tract, or infection.
- A clinical trial of a new treatment.
