Bai C, et al. - With an intent to further characterize phenotypic features of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), researchers assessed expression profiles of a panel of stemness genes in GISTs, by analyzing existing gene expression profiling datasets. In GISTs, significant upregulation of mRNA levels of B-lymphoma moloney murine leukaemia virus insertion region-1 (BMI1), kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4), sal-like protein 4 (SALL4) and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) was reported. RAS oncogene family (RAB18) and limb development membrane protein 1 (LMBR1) genes were confirmed as novel targets for BMI1 in GIST cells. BMI1 was identified as an important marker of GIST cell proliferation and progression.