Developer site: The content shown here is test data.

MyEClinic
MyEClinic
Health Dictionary AI Health Chat Find an Online Doctor
A serene Zen garden with raked sand and smooth stones, symbolising clarity and calm

Health Dictionary

Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.

Back to skin conditions

Cancer of unknown primary origin medical therapy

Introduction

Overview

Overview

There is no treatment for cancer of unknown primary origin; the mainstay of therapy is supportive care. Medical therapy for cancer of unknown primary origin should be adjusted on an individual basis and according to well-defined clinicopathologic subsets.

Medical Therapy

Medical Therapy

  • There is no treatment for cancer of unknown primary origin; the mainstay of therapy is supportive care.[1]
  • The treatment for cancer of unknown primary origin will depend on several factors, such as metastatic origin, biopsy findings, patients age, and performance status.
  • Medical therapy for cancer of unknown primary origin should be adjusted on an individual basis and according to well-defined clinicopathologic subsets.[1]
  • The table below summarizes different types of medical therapy strategies for cancer of unknown primary origin according to the European Society of Medical Oncology:[2]
Treatment for cancer of unknown primary origin

Adapted from the European Society of Medical Oncology[2]

Sub-type Proposed treatment

Poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas of an unknown primary

Platinum + etoposide combination chemotherapy

Well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumour of unknown primary

Somatostatin analogues, streptozocin + 5-fluorouracil, sunitinib, everolimus

Peritoneal adenocarcinomatosis of a serous papillary histological type in females

Optimal surgical debulking followed by platinum–taxane-based chemotherapy

Isolated axillary nodal metastases in females

Axillary nodal dissection, mastectomy or breast irradiation and adjuvant chemohormonotherapy

Squamous cell carcinoma involving non-supraclavicular cervical lymph nodes

Neck dissection and/or irradiation of bilateral neck and head–neck axis. For advanced stages induction chemotherapy with platinum-based combination or chemoradiation

CUP with a colorectal immunohistochemistry (CK20+ CDX2+ CK7−) or molecular profile

Systemic treatment used for colorectal cancer

Single metastatic deposit from unknown primary

Resection and/or radiotherapy ± systemic therapy

Men with blastic bone metastases or immunohistochemistry/serum PSA expression

Androgen deprivation therapy ± radiotherapy

References

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Briasoulis E, Tolis C, Bergh J, Pavlidis N (2005). “ESMO Minimum Clinical Recommendations for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of cancers of unknown primary site (CUP)”. Ann. Oncol. 16 Suppl 1: i75–6. doi:10.1093/annonc/mdi804. PMID 15888766.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Fizazi K, Greco FA, Pavlidis N, Daugaard G, Oien K, Pentheroudakis G; et al. (2015). “Cancers of unknown primary site: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up”. Ann Oncol. 26 Suppl 5: v133–8. doi:10.1093/annonc/mdv305. PMID 26314775.

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: ; Roukoz A. Karam, M.D.[2]