Epidemiology survey of gastrointestinal stromal tumor in Shanxi Province in 2011

OBJECTIVE: To explore the incidence and distribution of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) in Shanxi Province. METHODS: Newly diagnosed and suspected GIST cases of Shanxi Province on January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011 were collected from medical insurance records and hospital surveys. All specimens were sent to the Department of Pathology at Shanxi Provincial Tumor Hospital for examinations. And the data were analyzed by SPSS statistical analysis software. RESULTS: There were 153 newly discovered cases of GIST in Shanxi Province in 2011. And its distribution was scattered in different regions. The incidence was 4.3 per million (153/35 932 786) . The high-risk areas were Taiyuan (n = 25) and Changzhi (n = 25). There were 83 (54.2%) males and 70 (45.8%) females. And the incidence of males was not different from that of females ( (4.5 vs 4.0 )per million, P > 0.05). The median onset age was 59 (24-79) years. A high incidence of GIST occurred at an age range of 50-59 years (n = 33). Among the 139 patients, the tumor locations were stomach (n = 88, 63.3%), small intestine (n = 21, 15.1%), colon (n = 7, 5.0%), duodenum (n = 6, 4.3%), esophagus (n = 3, 2.2%) and extra-gastrointestinal (n = 14, 10.1%). And 113 cases had a record of tumor size. The median diameter was 5.78 (0.3-25.0) cm. The largest diameter was ≤ 2 cm (n = 30, 26.5%), > 2-5 cm (n = 33, 29.2%), > 5-10 cm (n = 36, 31.9%) and >10 cm (n = 14, 12.4%). The cell types of 141 cases were spindle cell (n = 112, 79.4%), epithelial (n = 11, 7.8%) and mixed (n = 18, 12.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Shanxi Province has a low incidence of GIST. And no statistically significant difference exists in the incidence between males and females. Taiyuan and Changzhi are relatively more prevalent.