Are inherited forms of GIST rare?
Are they found in any special populations around the world? Yes, heritable GIST is very rare – even rarer than most GISTs, which are called “sporadic” (not inherited). Only a small subset of people who develop GIST will do so because of a strong inherited tendency or “predisposition”. Approximately 15 families have been reported with familial GIST in the literature to date. These families have been from different countries and have a range of ethnic origins, so it appears that familial GIST does occur worldwide.
