GIST Group Comparator Group Control Group N 27 24 27 Male/Female 16/11 10/14 14/13 Age, range 41-80 25-85 45-76 Age, mean 63 51 62

Table 1: The characteristics of the different populations (control group, comparator group and GIST group) participating in this study are depicted according to gender and age. Control group denotes healthy patients, comparator group those with submucosal tumors other than GIST, and GIST group patients with GIST