How is carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) treated?
Since there’s no staging for carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) because it has already spread and the primary cancer site may not be known, your healthcare provider plans treatment based on what is known and what is thought to be the most likely type of cancer.
Your healthcare team will consider where the cancer was found in your body, what type of original cells the cancer cells look like, how abnormal the cells look and your test results.
Treatments usually considered include:
- Surgery: Your surgeon will remove the cancer along with a little healthy tissue surrounding it. This approach is used if your cancer is thought to be limited to one area. Radiation or chemotherapy may follow to kill any remaining cancer cells.
- Radiation therapy: Radiation may be external (beams of radiation targeted on the cancer) or internal (radioactive seeds, wires, needles or catheters placed in or near the cancer). Radiation therapy is used if cancer is thought to be limited to one area.
- Chemotherapy: This is a drug treatment that either kills cancer cells or stops their growth. One or more drugs can be given by IV or taken by mouth or placed directly into an area of your body. Chemotherapy is recommended if cancer is thought to be in more than one area.
- Hormone therapy: Some hormones can cause some cancers to grow. Hormone therapy means using drugs, surgery or radiation to block the action of hormones to prevent cancer from growing and spreading.
- Targeted therapy: This approach uses drugs or substances to attack cancer cells while not harming nearby healthy cells. Some of these products are used to treat specific types of cancers but may help treat some cases of CUP if the type of cancer cell is known.
Your healthcare providers will also provide pain relief and other treatments to manage your symptoms.
How is carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) treated if it returns?
Carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) that recurs is usually treated within a clinical trial with an investigational drug. Your healthcare team will determine where in your body cancer has returned, the type of cancer it is and how it was treated before. You and your healthcare team will decide the treatment option that is best for you.
What’s involved in participating in a clinical trial and where can I find more information?
Clinical trials enroll people from all points in their plan of care — before, during or after starting standard treatment approaches. People involved in cancer clinical trials receive either a standard treatment or a new treatment. Neither you nor your healthcare professional knows which treatment you’re receiving.
Clinical trials are done to find out if the new drug is safe and effective or even better than the standard treatment. All drugs approved for use in the U.S. must have undergone clinical trials. Talk with your healthcare team to discuss if this is a good treatment choice for you.
FAQs
Carcinoma of unknown primary is a rare cancer diagnosis given when cancer has spread and the original site of the cancer is unknown. Treatment is based on what can be discovered and what's the most likely type of cancer. Options include standard treatments and investigational drugs.
What is the prognosis for carcinoma of unknown primary? ›
Median survival in patients with cancer of unknown primary origin ranges from 11 weeks to 11 months. The 5-year overall survival rate is about 11%.
What is carcinoma of unknown primary diagnosis? ›
Carcinoma of unknown primary is a diagnosis given when doctors aren't able to locate where a cancer began. Most often, cancer is diagnosed when doctors discover the spot where the cancer began (primary tumor). If the cancer has spread (metastasized), those sites might be discovered, too.
How do you treat an unknown primary cancer? ›
The main treatment for cancer of unknown primary (CUP) is cancer drugs, most commonly chemotherapy. You often have a combination of 2 or 3 chemotherapy drugs. You may also have radiotherapy to help to control your symptoms and hormone therapy.
Is cancer of unknown primary always stage 4? ›
There is no staging system for cancer of unknown primary (CUP). This is because the cancer has already spread and doctors don't know where the original cancer started.
Which carcinoma has the best prognosis? ›
- Although there are no curable cancers, melanoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and breast, prostate, testicular, cervical, and thyroid cancer have some of the highest 5-year relative survival rates. ...
- Breast cancer. ...
- Prostate cancer. ...
- Testicular cancer. ...
- Thyroid cancer. ...
- Melanoma. ...
- Cervical cancer. ...
- Hodgkin lymphoma.
There is no standard staging system for carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP). The extent or spread of cancer is usually described as stages. The stage of the cancer is usually used to plan treatment. However, carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) has already spread to other parts of the body when it is found.
Can cancer of unknown primary go into remission? ›
However, complete cure remains a very rare event in CUP. Remission can be achieved with a platinum-containing regimen combined with radiotherapy.
How long can you live with unknown cancer? ›
around 16 out of 100 people (around 16%) survive for 1 year or more. around 10 out of 100 people (around 10%) survive for 3 years or more.
What if they can't find the primary cancer? ›
If it can't be found, the treatment path can be less clear but treatment can still be given. To help plan the treatment, your doctor will try to learn as much as possible about the spread of the cancer, the cells involved, your symptoms and your medical history.
T stands for primary tumor: This is information about a cancer tumor's size and location at the time of diagnosis. Small tumors that haven't spread may be classified as stage I tumors. Stage II cancers are larger tumors or tumors that spread into nearby tissues. The tumor classification goes from T0 to T4.
Can you have stage 4 cancer and not know it? ›
1 In some cases, there are no symptoms at all, so it's possible to have stage 4 cancer and not know it. Most of the time, a cancer that reaches stage 4 affects not only the part of the body where it originated but the areas where it has spread to as well.
How long can you have cancer without knowing? ›
How long can you have cancer without knowing it? While some cancers grow very quickly, other cancers are very slow growing and can even go undetected for ten years or more. One example is certain types of thyroid cancer, which are very slow growing and may never spread beyond the thyroid gland.
What is carcinomatosis of unknown primary? ›
Carcinoma of unknown primary origin (CUP) is a diverse group of cancers that is defined by the presence of metastatic disease with no identified primary tumor at initial presentation. CUP has been reported to comprise approximately 2% to 5% of all cancer cases.
Which lung carcinoma has worst prognosis? ›
Except for Stage 1 lung cancer, adenocarcinoma carries a much worse prognosis than squamous cell cancer.
What is the incidence of carcinoma of unknown primary? ›
Cancer of unknown primary incidence
Cancer of unknown primary is the 15th most common cancer in the UK, accounting for 2% of all new cancer cases (2017-2019). In females in the UK, cancer of unknown primary is the 11th most common cancer, with around 4,200 new cases every year (2017-2019).
What is carcinoma of unknown primary presentation? ›
The clinical presentation of cancer of unknown primary origin is extremely variable, and depends on the extent and type of organ involvement, However, because most of these patients have fairly advanced-stage disease, they typically present with the constitutional symptoms of malaise, weakness, fatigue, and weight loss ...
