This focused issue on "Minimally Invasive Approach in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs)" is edited by Dr. Ferdinando Carlo Maria Cananzi from Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Milan, Italy.

Dr. Cananzi graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the Catholic University in Rome (Italy) where he also completed his residency in General Surgery at the “Agostino Gemelli University Hospital”. From 2012 to 2013, he served as clinical fellow to the Upper Gastrointestinal, Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery Unit at The Royal Marsden Cancer Hospital in London (UK). In 2013, he joined Humanitas Clinical and Research Center in Milan, serving as surgical oncologist in the Sarcoma, Melanoma and Rare Tumors Surgery Unit (Dir. Dr. Vittorio Quagliuolo). In 2018, he was appointed as Assistant Professor of Surgery at Humanitas University in Milan. His clinical and research activity has been focusing on surgical oncology especially on retroperitoneal, limb and trunk soft tissue sarcoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), metastatic melanoma and gastric cancer. He is author/co-author of more than 100 scientific publications including papers, book chapters and congress abstracts. He is member of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS), European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO), Transatlantic Australasian Retroperitoneal Sarcoma Working Group (TARPSWG), Italian Society of Surgery (SIC) and the Italian Society of Surgical Oncology (SICO).

Focused issue outline:

1. Introduction / Preface “GIST and minimally invasive surgery: obligation or opportunity?”
2. Biology-driven multimodal treatment of GIST
3. The gist of surgical margins in GIST
4. Endoscopic resection of GIST: feasible or fairytale?
5. Indications and limits of minimally invasive treatment of esophageal GIST
6. Laparoscopic resection of gastric GIST: state of the art
7. Duodenal GIST: is there a role for minimally invasive surgery?
8. Open versus laparoscopic treatment for small bowel GIST
9. Current scenario and future perspectives of minimally invasive approaches in rectal GIST

Disclosure:
The series “Minimally Invasive Approach in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs)” was commissioned by the editorial office, Laparoscopic Surgery without any sponsorship or funding. Ferdinando Carlo Maria Cananzi is serving as the unpaid Guest Editor for the series.