Resolution of Persistent Fever and Systemic Inflammation in a Metastatic Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumour (GIST) With Imatinib

This case highlights the critical role of imatinib in managing gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs), especially in metastatic cases where surgical resection is not feasible. In addition to controlling tumour growth, imatinib appears to help manage paraneoplastic symptoms such as systemic inflammation. The patient’s atypical presentation with persistent fever and elevated inflammatory markers, which resolved with imatinib, underscores the need for clinicians to consider its immune-modulating properties in the management of GIST. A comparison with traditional treatments, such as chemotherapy and surgical resection, demonstrates the superior efficacy of imatinib in metastatic GISTs. While surgery remains essential for localized disease, imatinib has transformed the treatment landscape for metastatic and unresectable GIST, significantly enhancing patient outcomes. Further prospective clinical studies are warranted to deepen our understanding of the immune-modulating effects of imatinib and to optimize its use in GIST patients presenting with inflammatory symptoms.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Cureus

• Publication date

  2025-11-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.7759/cureus.97356PMID 41426918PMCID 12718089
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Gastrointestinal stromal tumours

  2021cited by this paper
• Gastrointestinal stromal tumours

  2021cited by this paper
• Rationale and design of a UK database for a rare cancer type: the GEM Registry for gastrointestinal stromal tumours

  2013cited by this paper
• Imatinib potentiates anti-tumor T cell responses in gastrointestinal stromal tumor through the inhibition of Ido

  2011cited by this paper
• Proteomic detection of a large amount of SCGFα in the stroma of GISTs after imatinib therapy

  2011cited by this paper
• Gastrointestinal stromal tumours: origin and molecular oncology

  2011cited by this paper
• Gastrointestinal stromal tumors: review on morphology, molecular pathology, prognosis, and differential diagnosis.

  2009cited by this paper
• Incidence and clinicopathologic features of gastrointestinal stromal tumors. A population-based study

  2007cited by this paper
• Optimizing diagnosis, staging, and management of gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

  2007cited by this paper
• Gastrointestinal stromal tumours: an update

  2006cited by this paper
• Selective tyrosine kinase inhibition by imatinib mesylate for the treatment of autoimmune arthritis.

  2006cited by this paper
• Differentially expressed proteins in gastrointestinal stromal tumors with KIT and PDGFRA mutations

  2006cited by this paper
• Gastrointestinal stromal tumors in Iceland, 1990–2003: The Icelandic GIST study, a population‐based incidence and pathologic risk stratification study

  2005cited by this paper
• Gastrointestinal stromal tumors: The incidence, prevalence, clinical course, and prognostication in the preimatinib mesylate era

  2005cited by this paper
• PDGFRA Activating Mutations in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors

  2003cited by this paper
• Structure of a c-Kit Product Complex Reveals the Basis for Kinase Transactivation*

  2003cited by this paper
• Efficacy and safety of imatinib mesylate in advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

  2002cited by this paper
• KIT mutations are common in incidental gastrointestinal stromal tumors one centimeter or less in size.

  2002cited by this paper
• Diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumors: A consensus approach.

  2002cited by this paper
• Gastrointestinal pacemaker cell tumor (GIPACT): gastrointestinal stromal tumors show phenotypic characteristics of the interstitial cells of Cajal.

  1998cited by this paper
• Gain-of-function mutations of c-kit in human gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

  1998cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.