Pancreaticoduodenectomy versus local resection in the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors of the duodenum

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal neoplasms. However, duodenal GISTs compromise a small and rare subset and few studies have focused on them. We evaluated the surgical management of patients with duodenal GISTs treated by pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) versus local resection (LR) in our institution and analyzed the postoperative outcomes.

This was a retrospective review of patients with duodenal GISTs managed in our institution from January 2006 to January 2012. Clinicopathologic findings and disease-free survival (DFS) of duodenal GIST patients were analyzed.

A total of 48 patients were selected. The most common presentation was bleeding (60.4%), and the second portion of the duodenum (35.4%) was the most common dominant site. Of the patients, 34 (70.8%) underwent LR while 14 (29.2%) underwent PD. The surgical margins for all studied patients were free. Patients who ultimately underwent PD were more likely to present with a larger tumor (median size: PD, 6.3 cm vs LR, 4.0 cm; P = 0.02) and more commonly presented with a tumor in the second portion of the duodenum (second portion: PD, 64.3% vs LR, 23.5%; P = 0.007). The tumors treated by PD had a higher grade of risk compared with LR as defined by National Institutes of Health (NIH) criteria (P = 0.019). PD was significantly associated with a longer operation time and a longer hospital stay compared to LR (P < 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively). In our study, the median follow-up period was 36 months (range: 0 to 81 months). The 1- and 3-year DFS was 100% and 88%, respectively. From multivariable analysis, the only significant factor associated with a worse DFS was an NIH high risk classification (hazard ratio = 4.24).

The recurrence of duodenal GIST was correlated to tumor biology rather than type of operation. PD was associated with a longer hospital stay and longer operation time. Therefore, LR with clear surgical margins should be considered a reliable and curative option for duodenal GIST and PD should be reserved for lesions not amenable to LR.