The Japan Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guidelines 2022 for gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) have been published in accordance with the Minds Manual for Guideline Development 2014 and 2017. A specialized team independent of the working group for the revision performed a systematic review. Since GIST is a rare type of tumor, clinical evidence is not sufficient to answer several clinical and background questions. Thus, in these guidelines, we considered that consensus among the experts who manage GIST, the balance between benefits and harms, patients\' wishes, medical economic perspective, etc. are important considerations in addition to the evidence. Although guidelines for the treatment of GIST have also been published by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), there are some differences between the treatments proposed in those guidelines and the treatments in the present guidelines because of the differences in health insurance systems among countries.

There are some disparities between the clinical practice and profiles of cancer in Asia and those in Europe & North America. In Asia, surgical oncologists still have a major role in the multidisciplinary therapy of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), whereas medical oncologists hold this status in the West. Although the incidence of clinical GIST is considered similar between the two areas, small gastric GISTs are more frequently treated by surgery in East Asia compared with Europe & North America. The diagnosis and treatment of small submucosal tumors (SMTs), including GIST, is important in Asian clinical practice guidelines for GIST. Most items of Asian and Western GIST guidelines are very similar. There are slight differences between the two guidelines in the degree of recommendation, which may come from disparities of clinical practice and available medicines. Importantly, most clinical evidence in the GIST guidelines has been established by clinical trials conducted in Western countries, and the number of clinical trials is still limited in Asia, suggesting that Asian GIST patients may have limited access to investigational drugs after standard therapy. Finally, both Asian and Western GIST guidelines are well-harmonized in some parts, and their contents may reflect the medical circumstances of each region.