Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23860528›Full record

ArticleBritish journal of cancer2013

Cancer of unknown primary: a population-based analysis of temporal change and socioeconomic disparities.

D Urban, A Rao, M Bressel, Y R Lawrence, L Mileshkin

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in British journal of cancer, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
41citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
2.8field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

41 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 80 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  8. Occult breast cancer in an older woman: A case report.Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2025
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  11. Bone metastatic cancer of unknown primary at initial presentation.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2024
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.

D UrbanDivision of Cancer Medicine, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Locked Bag No. 1, A'Beckett Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia. damien.urban@petermac.org
A Rao
M Bressel
Y R Lawrence
L Mileshkin
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre · AUThomas Jefferson University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCancer of unknown primary (CUP) is the fourth most common cause of cancer death. With advanced diagnostics and treatments, we investigated the proportion of cancers diagnosed as CUP, treatment outcomes and association with socioeconomic disparities.

methodsWe analysed trends in CUP diagnosis and outcome within the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry between 1973 and 2008.

resultsThe percentage of all cancers diagnosed as CUP has decreased over time comprising <2% of cancers since 2007. A higher proportion of CUP was diagnosed in the elderly, females, blacks and residents of less affluent or less educated counties. Median survival of all CUP patients was 3 months, with no improvement over time. The 5-year survival significantly improved in those with squamous histology (squamous cell carcinoma; SCC) but only marginally in non-SCC. Factors associated with a longer survival on multivariate analysis included white race; female; <65 years old; most recent decade at diagnosis; SCC; married; a histological diagnosis; and treatment with radiotherapy (all P<0.001). Despite the improvement in survival with radiotherapy, its use was less frequent in females and blacks.

conclusionThe percentage of cancers diagnosed as CUP is decreasing but prognosis remains poor, particularly in non-SCC CUP. However, significant socioeconomic disparities exist in diagnosis and survival, suggesting inequalities in access to diagnostic investigations and treatment.

Indexed as

Healthcare DisparitiesNeoplasms, Unknown PrimaryAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMaleMiddle AgedPrognosisSEER Program

Identifiers

PMID23860528
PMCPMC3778275
OpenAlexW2067216397

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.