Endoscopic resection: A novel approach for treating oesophageal gastrointestinal stromal tumours

Abstract

In this letter, a commentary on the article by Xu et al has been provided. Gastrointestinal stomal tumours (GISTs) are rare tumours that originate commonly in stomach (60%-70%) and small intestine (30%-40%). The course of treatment especially oesophageal GIST is very complex and hard to diagnose because of limited availability of pathological and clinical data. Endoscopic resection (ER) is a minimally invasive approach for removing tumours from the oesophagus and digestive system that does not require open surgery and is especially successful for very small and low-risk GIST. A retrospective examination of 32 patients treated with ER between 2012 and 2023 was conducted to analyse clinical and pathological characteristics, effectiveness of therapy, and long-term prognosis. The findings demonstrate en bloc resection was achieved in 96.9% of cases with an R0 resection rate of 75% with a median size of tumour was approximately 2.12 cm. Post-surgery complication like hydrothorax, post-endoscopic submucosal dissection electrocoagulation syndrome occurred in about 25% of cases which later go resolved by conservative treatment. Recurrence of GIST was approximately 9.4% primarily in high-risk cases. ER should be widely adopted in clinical practise preferably for managing low-risk oesophageal GIST because of its high success rate, low recurrence rates and excellent survival results, ensuring better patient prognosis.

Keywords: Clinical practice; Early detection; Endoscopic resection; Gastrointestinal stomal tumours; Low-risk tumours; Minimally invasive treatment; Oesophageal gastrointestinal stomal tumours; Patient prognosis; Survival outcomes; Tumour recurrence.