How does GLEEVEC work as adjuvant treatment after resection of Kit+ GIST?
Even when an operation has gone well and the tumor has been removed completely, there is still a chance that the GIST will grow back. When surgery successfully removes a GIST, some studies showed that the tumor was still found to grow back in one out of every two patients. However, the results of a recent clinical trial have shown that patients with GIST who took a targeted therapy called Gleevec after their operation, were much less likely to have their tumor grow back compared with patients who did not take Gleevec.
