# KIT

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

## TL;DR

KIT mutation is the driver behind most gastrointestinal stromal tumours, and the reason imatinib turned a sarcoma with a median survival of about a year into a chronic disease.

## Summary

KIT is the receptor tyrosine kinase for stem-cell factor, and activating mutations in it drive roughly 75 to 80 percent of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST), with PDGFRA mutations accounting for about 10 percent more. Imatinib turned a sarcoma with a median survival of about a year into a chronic disease, and sunitinib, regorafenib, ripretinib and avapritinib (for PDGFRA D842V) form the sequence used as resistance mutations accumulate. KIT is also a target in systemic mastocytosis and is mutated in 2 to 3 percent of melanomas, enriched in acral and mucosal subtypes. Resistance arises through secondary KIT mutations that differ between patients, so later-line choice increasingly depends on the specific mutation. The plain version: KIT mutation is the driver behind most GIST, and blocking it is one of the clearest success stories of targeted therapy.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-04
- Tags: driver; kinase
- Symbol: KIT
- Class: kinase
- Biology: Stem-cell factor receptor tyrosine kinase.
- Where found: GIST; Mastocytosis; Melanoma (mucosal/acral, rare)

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD117
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD117

## Connected records

- biomarkers: [KIT D816V](https://onco.cc/biomarkers/kit-d816v/)
- cancers: [Acral melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/acral-melanoma/), [Advanced melanoma (unresectable stage III and stage IV)](https://onco.cc/cancers/advanced-melanoma/), [Advanced systemic mastocytosis (aggressive SM, SM with an associated haematological neoplasm, mast cell leukaemia)](https://onco.cc/cancers/advanced-systemic-mastocytosis/), [Gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST)](https://onco.cc/cancers/gist/), [Imatinib-resistant GIST](https://onco.cc/cancers/gist-imatinib-resistant/), [Indolent and smouldering systemic mastocytosis](https://onco.cc/cancers/indolent-systemic-mastocytosis/), [KIT exon 11-mutant GIST](https://onco.cc/cancers/gist-kit-exon-11/), [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/), [Mucosal melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/mucosal-melanoma/), [PDGFRA D842V-mutant GIST](https://onco.cc/cancers/gist-pdgfra-d842v/), [Sarcomas (soft tissue, bone, GIST)](https://onco.cc/cancers/sarcoma/), [Systemic mastocytosis](https://onco.cc/cancers/systemic-mastocytosis/), [Thymic carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/thymic-carcinoma/), [Thymoma and thymic carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/thymic-epithelial/), [Vaginal melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/vaginal-melanoma/), [Vulvar melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/vulvar-melanoma/)
- drugs: [AL2846](https://onco.cc/drugs/al2846/), [Anlotinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/anlotinib/), [Avapritinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/avapritinib/), [Bezuclastinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/bezuclastinib/), [Chiauranib](https://onco.cc/drugs/chiauranib/), [Imatinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/imatinib/), [Lenvatinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/lenvatinib/), [Midostaurin](https://onco.cc/drugs/midostaurin/), [Nilotinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/nilotinib/), [Pazopanib](https://onco.cc/drugs/pazopanib/), [Pexidartinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/pexidartinib/), [Regorafenib](https://onco.cc/drugs/regorafenib/), [Ripretinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/ripretinib/), [Sunitinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/sunitinib/)
- companies: [Blueprint Medicines](https://onco.cc/companies/blueprint-medicines/), [Celldex Therapeutics](https://onco.cc/companies/celldex/), [Cogent Biosciences](https://onco.cc/companies/cogent-biosciences/)
- pathways: [Acute myeloid leukaemia (KEGG map)](https://onco.cc/pathways/aml-signalling/), [PI3K / AKT / mTOR](https://onco.cc/pathways/pi3k-akt-mtor/), [RAS / RAF / MEK / ERK (MAPK)](https://onco.cc/pathways/ras-mapk/), [Receptor tyrosine kinase activation](https://onco.cc/pathways/rtk-activation/)
- trials: [INSIGHT](https://onco.cc/trials/insight-gist/), [INVICTUS](https://onco.cc/trials/invictus/), [SSGXVIII/AIO (adjuvant imatinib in GIST)](https://onco.cc/trials/ssgxviii/)
- pairings: [ctDNA KIT genotyping → TKI selection in GIST](https://onco.cc/pairings/ctdna-genotype-gist-tki/)
- technologies: [Small-molecule kinase inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/kinase-inhibitors/)
- people: [Charles D. Blanke](https://onco.cc/people/charles-blanke/), [George D. Demetri](https://onco.cc/people/george-demetri/), [Jean-Yves Blay](https://onco.cc/people/jean-yves-blay/), [Richard D. Carvajal](https://onco.cc/people/richard-carvajal/), [Yoon-Koo Kang](https://onco.cc/people/kang-yoon-koo/)
- targets: [CSF1R](https://onco.cc/targets/csf1r/), [PDGFRA](https://onco.cc/targets/pdgfra/)
- key papers: [Lemmon and Schlessinger 2010: cell signalling by receptor tyrosine kinases](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-lemmon-schlessinger-rtk-signalling-cell-2010/)
- terms: [GIST risk stratification (mitotic count, size, site; Miettinen and modified NIH criteria)](https://onco.cc/terms/gist-risk-stratification/), [Sarcoma (tissue type)](https://onco.cc/terms/sarcoma-type/), [SDH deficiency (SDHB immunohistochemistry loss)](https://onco.cc/terms/sdh-deficiency/)

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