# Heikki Joensuu

Source: https://onco.cc/people/heikki-joensuu/  
OnCo record `heikki-joensuu` (Person). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Finnish oncologist who treated the first GIST patient with imatinib in 2000 and led SSG XVIII, the trial that showed three years of adjuvant imatinib beats one year after surgery for high-risk GIST.

## Summary

Heikki Joensuu is professor of oncology at Helsinki University Hospital. In 2001 he reported the first patient with metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumour treated with imatinib, opening the era of targeted therapy for the disease. He was first author of the 2012 JAMA report of the Scandinavian Sarcoma Group XVIII trial, which showed that three years of adjuvant imatinib improved recurrence-free and overall survival compared with one year in high-risk resected GIST, now the standard. He has also led adjuvant trastuzumab trials in breast cancer.

## Fields

- Kind: Person
- Last checked: 2026-09-18
- Tags: gist; trialist
- Role: Professor of Oncology, Helsinki University Hospital
- Specialisms: Gastrointestinal stromal tumour; Adjuvant imatinib; Breast cancer trials

## Connected records

- cancers: [Gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST)](https://onco.cc/cancers/gist/), [KIT exon 11-mutant GIST](https://onco.cc/cancers/gist-kit-exon-11/), [Sarcomas (soft tissue, bone, GIST)](https://onco.cc/cancers/sarcoma/)
- institutions: [HUS Comprehensive Cancer Center, Helsinki University Hospital](https://onco.cc/institutions/helsinki-hus/)
- key papers: [SSG XVIII/AIO: one versus three years of adjuvant imatinib for operable gastrointestinal stromal tumour](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-ssg-xviii-adjuvant-imatinib-joensuu-jama-2012/)

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