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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Jul 8.
Published in final edited form as: Gastrointest Stromal Tumor. 2021 Oct 30;4:6. doi: 10.21037/gist-21-10

Figure 4.

Figure 4

Hypothetical stem cell and quiescent model of imatinib resistance in GIST. Imatinib does not affect GIST stem cells due to their KITlow/− expression. Although GIST are initially sensitive to imatinib, imatinib’s effect is cytostatic, as GIST are in a quiescent state during imatinib treatment. During quiescence, imatinib-treated GIST can harbor imatinib-resistant mutations in KIT or/and PDGFRA, leading to the emergence of imatinib-resistant GIST. GIST, gastrointestinal stromal tumors; KIT, v-kit Hardy-Zuckerman 4 feline sarcoma viral oncogene homolog.