GIST is most often identified early through another test, such as an endoscopy, or during an unrelated abdominal procedure or surgery.
Accurate diagnosis is essential to choosing the best treatment for your type and stage of GIST. These rare tumors require specially-trained experts to recognize and treat them. Fox Chase Cancer Center sarcoma specialists, pathologists, and radiologists work together to determine the precise type and stage of any sarcoma, including GIST to ensure optimal and fast treatment.
Special imaging studies are conducted by our diagnostic imaging team to learn more about the cancer and how it will respond to treatment. At Fox Chase, our advanced technological capabilities include:
- Spiral high-speed computed tomography (CT) scan to gain valuable information about the tumor site and the potential for surgical removal
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to aid in surgical planning for patients with musculoskeletal tumors
- Dynamic MRI and PET scans for use in diagnosis and management
Our radiologists also use minimally invasive image-guided techniques such as CT- or ultrasound-guided biopsy to diagnose GIST. Our specialized care team includes highly experienced pathologists who are skilled in identifying and characterizing the different soft tissue sarcoma subtypes.
