Global epidemiology of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST): A systematic review of population-based cohort studies

Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) are rare, yet the most common mesenchymal tumour within the digestive tract. Lack of diagnostic criteria and no specific code in the ICD system has prevented epidemiological evaluation except from overt malignant cases in the past. A global estimate of incidence and disease patterns has thus not been available.

A systematic literature search of all available population-based studies on GIST published between January 2000 and December 2014 were reviewed. Descriptive epidemiological data are presented.