Therapeutic targets in gastrointestinal stromal tumors

Figure 1 Morphologic similarities of low-risk gastrointestinal stromal tumor and leiomyoma and of a high-risk gastrointestinal stromal tumor and leiomyosarcoma. GIST cells can divided into 3 types: spindle cell (70% of cases), epithelioid cell (20% of cases), and mixed cell (containing a mixture of spindle and epithelioid cells). GIST: Gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

Figure 2 Schematic structure of KIT and platelet-derived growth factor receptor α receptor tyrosine kinases and distribution of KIT mutations in gastrointestinal stromal tumor. EC: Extracellular; JM: Juxtamembrane; TK[I]: Tyrosine kinase domain I; EX: Exon.