Minimally invasive experience for the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumours

Gastrointestinal stromal tumours are rare mesenchymal neoplasms, accounting less than 3% of all the gastrointestinal tumours, that may arise in all portions of the gastrointestinal tract but more frequently they involve stomach and small bowel. Generally are asymptomatic or slight symptomatic, although they may also cause acute clinical conditions. Histologically are characterised by a meshwork of spindle-like cells mixed with fibro-hyaline stroma. The immunohistochemical assessment, marked for a strong immunopositivity for CD117 antibodies, allows the differential diagnosis with others muscular, nervous and fibroblastic tumours. Tumour size and mitotic rate are the most important prognostic indicators. Surgery represents the treatment for patients with primary non-metastatic disease, however a prolonged oncologic follow-up is always recommended. Minimally invasive technique is increasingly adopted and preferred for its low morbidity and shorter in-hospital stay, and more and more reports confirm its safety, efficacy and feasibility. We report a case series of three pauci-sympomatic patients, all hospitalised for severe anaemia related to a chronic gastrointestinal bleeding, successfully treated by laparoscopic approach for the removal of gastrointestinal stromal tumours, two located in the stomach and one in the jejunum.