Review Article
Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors, Interstitial Cells of Cajal and their Nomenclature
Mehmet Serefettin*Medical Faculty, Dokuz Eylül University Medical School Department of Pathology, Turkey
- *Corresponding Author:
- Mehmet Serefettin
Medical Faculty
Dokuz Eylül University Medical School Department of Pathology
Dokuz Eylül University Medical School Department of Pathology
Izmir, Turkey
Tel: 0905337083135
Fax: 0902322777274
E-mail: serafettin.canda@deu.edu.tr
Received date: September 11, 2014; Accepted date: October 22, 2014; Published date: October 27, 2014
Citation: Serefettin M (2014) Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors, Interstitial Cells of Cajal and their Nomenclature. J Gastroint Dig Syst 4:231. doi:10.4172/2161-069X.1000231
Copyright: © 2014 Serefettin M. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Currently, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) have been emphasized considerably in the literature. Following the date of the description of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) by Santiago Ramon y Cajal in the late 19th century, this issue has been very popular. Lately, discovery of the association of GISTs with c-Kit mutations in their development, and the significance of drugs such as imatinib, that inhibit c-Kit mutations in their treatment, has increased the interest of researchers. Our aim is to review the nomenclature about ICC and GISTs in the light of literature, to discuss the definition of GIST, which is a heterogeneous, pleomorphic tumor, in its historical progression and in the light of new data, and to suggest the naming these tumors as “tumor of Cajal”, “”Cajal tumor” or “Cajal cell tumor” instead.
