The Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor: the first systematic, comprehensive and professional journal for gastrointestinal stromal tumor

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) originate from mesenchymal tissue and have a potential malignant tendency. The incidence rate is 1–2/10 million. These tumors occur in the entire digestive tract, and most commonly in the stomach (approximately 60%), and the parameters of immunohistochemical expression are CD34, CD117 and Dog 1 (1-3). Since the mutation of c-kit gene in GIST was discovered by Japanese scholars in 1998 (4) and the first case of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in the treatment of metastatic GIST occurred in 2001 (5), GIST has attracted the attention of doctors and gradually become a model of targeted therapy (6).

The understanding of GIST is expanding, while more challenging clinical issues of GIST are emerging, such as, the resistance to molecular therapy, discussions in laparoscopy and robotic surgery, treatment of rare gene mutations, the management of malignant small GISTs and metastatic GISTs, etc. Although many GIST-related issues have been reported and published, there is not a platform to systemically discuss and timely present the state of the art on GIST. Therefore, cooperating with Prof. Yong Li (who has profound research in the standardized treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumor in Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China), we are going to launch a brand-new journal Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor to keep publishing up-to-date findings, knowledge, skills, experience, and valued ideas in the exploring of GIST, to help the clinicians and researchers always update their skills and knowledge in the field of GIST.

The journal Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor will cover all aspects of GIST, from epidemiology, molecular biology, imaging to pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment (including but not limited to).

We will spare no effort to build the journal Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor an international reader-friendly platform for learning and education, communication and cooperation for clinical practice and medical science in the field of GIST. To achieve this, we warmly welcome the GIST researchers and clinicians, colleagues and friends across the globe to join our effort to push the field forward and ultimately help our patients live longer and better.

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Provenance and Peer Review: This article was commissioned by the Editorial Office, Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor. The article did not undergo external peer review.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

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