Patients with metastatic cancer of unknown primary site : diagnostic workup and therapeutic management

Abstract EN

Metastatic Cancer of Unknown Primary site (CUP) accounts for about 4 % of all cancer patients and is therefore one of the 10 most frequent cancer diagnoses in man.

It is defined as biopsy-confirmed malignancy for which the site of origin is not identified by routine workup.

It is believed that CUP represents a heterogeneous group of malignancies that have a presumably, specific biology with clinical characteristics of rapid progression and random atypical metastases.

The diagnostic work-up could be variable.

Certain clinicopathological CUP entities are considered as favorable subsets responding to systemic platinum-based chemotherapy or managed by locoregional treatment.

These subsets have a better prognosis than the average median survival time of four months in patients who belong to the non-favorable subsets.