We are all familiar with the various types of cancer which occur in various parts of our body, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, skin cancer and so on.
However some people have vague and non-specific symptoms, and only when they have scans are cancerous growths are discovered and then confirmed by biopsy.
Referred to as CUP cancers (cancinoma of unknown primary), these tumours have little relationship to the organ or tissue where the growth is found, and a primary tumour is not found. World-wide some 3% to 5% of tumours world-wide fall into this category.
Among researchers there is a growing feeling that CUP may be a specific type of cancer, rather than a metastasis from a primary.
Work is ongoing to identify metastatic tumour driver genetic mutations. If the tumour shows a specific mutation that is a feature of a known organ or tissue cancer, then using the current treatment for that cancer might be effective. For example, a specific mutation in the BRAC1 or 2 gene (one of the causes of breast cancer) might be causing growths elsewhere, which might respond to the PARP inhibitor. For CUP sufferers it will mean personalising therapy for the best outcome, rather than focusing on the organ or tissue in which the cancer occurs.
Source: feature in New Scientist, 11 July 2020
