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SuspendedNCT02924714Updated Feb 18, 2022

SSG XXV: The Stop-GIST Trial; Discontinuation of Imatinib in Patients With Oligo-metastatic GIST

An interventional study of Discontinuation of imatinib in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor, sponsored by Oslo University Hospital. Suspended at 1 site in Norway. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-02-18.

Sponsored by Oslo University Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other

Why this study was suspended
Slow accrual
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
31
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
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Study summary

The trial "The stop-GIST trial" is an Oslo University Hospital sponsored, prospective, open-label, 1-group, multicenter phase II trial evaluating discontinuation of imatinib in highly selected patients treated with imatinib longer than 5 years for oligo-metastatic GIST (≤ 3 metastases) and who have no detectable overt GIST lesions on CT/MRI imaging following complete surgical resection (R0/R1-resection) or radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of the metastases.

Read the detailed description

Patients with metastatic GIST are currently recommended to have life-long treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). The standard first-line treatment is imatinib, which is switched to other drugs at progression or if the patient does not tolerate imatinib. The prevailing hypothesis is that imatinib and other TKIs fail to completely eradicate metastatic GIST and that progression is inevitable if imatinib treatment is discontinued. However, the SSGXVIII/AIO trial found that 3 years of adjuvant imatinib yielded both superior RFS and OS rates compared to 1 year of adjuvant imatinib, which finding does not exclude the hypothesis that sufficiently long administration of imatinib might sometimes eradicate subclinical GIST. Furthermore, a few retrospective studies have reported favorable survival outcomes with surgery of residual disease in metastatic GIST in patients responding to imatinib, and a subset (approximately 20%) of patients with advanced GIST do not progress within the first 10 years on imatinib. Imatinib treatment comes with potential side-effects and, as of now, considerable costs to the society. Therefore, discontinuation of imatinib in highly selected patients, i.e. those who have received imatinib for longer than 5 years and who have undergone metastasectomy of all macroscopic oligometastatic disease, needs to be explored as a novel treatment strategy. Discontinuation might lead to detection of durable complete remissions without imatinib or even cure.

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Conditions studied

  • Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor

Keywords

  • GIST
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In context

Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors

333 studies on the registry are indexed under Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors; 61 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 31 is below the median of 50 across 243 interventional studies indexed under Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors.

Browse Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors studies →

Lead sponsor

Oslo University Hospital is the lead sponsor of 810 studies on the registry; 148 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  1. Age ≥ 18.
  2. Morphological and immunohistochemical documentation of GIST (immunostaining for KIT/ (CD117) and/or DOG-1 (anoctamin-1)) must be positive on a tumour sample. Patients with demonstrated mutation in KIT or PDGFRA may be entered to the study despite negative immunostaining for KIT and DOG-1 provided that tumour histology is compatible with GIST.
  3. Confirmed metastatic disease by radiology, histology, or both in history.
  4. >5.0 years of treatment with imatinib for metastatic disease when the breaks in imatinib administration are taken into account.
  5. No more than 3 detectable metastases in the liver and/or in the abdomen on imaging of the abdomen and the pelvis or at surgery during the course of the disease.
  6. Macroscopically complete resection of all metastases (either R0 or R1 surgery). Patients who have microscopically infiltrated margins (or suspected microscopical infiltration, R1) are eligible to enter the study. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of liver metastases in place of surgery is also allowed. Patients whose oligometastatic disease had disappeared completely so that no remaining target lesion for surgery or RFA can be identified (including absence of residual cyst-like lesions) are allowed to enter the study.
  7. Eastern Co-operative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≤ 2.
  8. Patient has provided a written, voluntary informed consent prior to study entry and any study-specific procedures.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients with metastases outside of the abdomen (e.g. in the bones or lungs).
  2. Not willing to donate tumor tissue and/or blood samples for the molecular studies that aim at predicting of GIST recurrence.
  3. Presence of a mutation in SDH, or other evidence for SDH deficiency.
  4. Presence of neurofibromatosis-1.
  5. R2 resection of the primary tumour or metastasis.
  6. Patient with inability to grant reliable informed consent.
  7. Inability to comply with the scheduled follow-up.
  8. Progressive disease during imatinib or other systemic treatments for GIST, before or after surgery/RFA of the metastases.

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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
31 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Other
    Discontinuation of imatinib

    Patients treated with imatinib longer than 5 years for oligo-metastatic GIST (≤ 3 metastases) and who have no longer detectable GIST lesions on CT/MRI imaging following complete surgical resection (R0/R1-resection) or RFA of the metastases are assigned to discontinue imatinib.

    Other: Discontinuation of imatinib

Interventions

  • OtherDiscontinuation of imatinib
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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Progression free survival (PFS)

    Three-year progression-free survival (PFS) after discontinuation of imatinib.

    Time frame: 3 years

Secondary outcomes

  1. Overall survival (OS)

    Overall survival will be measured from the date of discontinuation of imatinib to the date of death resulting from any cause.

    Time frame: 3 years

  2. Quality of Life (QoL)

    EQ-5D

    Time frame: 3 years

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Study locations

1 site
  • Oslo University Hospital
    Oslo, Norway
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References and documents

Publications

  • Hompland I, Bruland OS. Can Imatinib Be Safely Withdrawn in Patients with Surgically Resected Metastatic GIST? Anticancer Res. 2015 Nov;35(11):5759-65. PubMed 26503996 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 18, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02924714
Lead sponsor
Oslo University Hospital
Responsible party
Øyvind Sverre Bruland (Professor in clinical oncology, Oslo University Hospital) — Principal investigator
First posted
Oct 5, 2016
Start date
Jan 2017
Primary completion
Nov 2022 (estimated)
Completion
Nov 2022 (estimated)
Last update
Feb 18, 2022

Study contacts

Heikki Joensuu, MD PhD
study director · Comprehensive Cancer Center Helsinki
Øyvind S Bruland, MD PhD
principal investigator · Oslo University Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is suspended, as verified in Feb 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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