ArticleJournal of translational medicine2018
Genetic characterisation of molecular targets in carcinoma of unknown primary.
Article in Journal of translational medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Quest for Improving Treatment of Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP) Through Molecularly-Driven Treatments: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in oncology · 2020Pooled it
- Analysis of cancer stem cell mechanism and immune profiling in breast cancer of unknown primary.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2026Article
- Tumor diagnosis recharacterization enabled by comprehensive genomic profiling to guide precision medicine strategy.NPJ precision oncology · 2025Article
- Impact of whole genome sequencing on the care pathway for patients with cancer of unknown primary.ESMO open · 2025Article
- When neck lymph nodes metastases do not origin from a head and neck unknown primary.Current opinion in otolaryngology & head and neck surgery · 2025Review
- Epidemiologic, histopathological, and prognostic analysis of cancer of unknown primary in an Iranian population.Journal of research in medical sciences : the official journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences · 2025Article
- Synergic activity of FGFR2 and MEK inhibitors in the treatment of FGFR2-amplified cancers of unknown primary.Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2024Article
- Cancers of Unknown Primary Origin: Real-World Clinical Outcomes and Genomic Analysis at the European Institute of Oncology.The oncologist · 2024Article
- From pre-clinical to translational brain metastasis research: current challenges and emerging opportunities.Clinical & experimental metastasis · 2024Review
- Advances in Cancer Research: Current and Future Diagnostic and Therapeutic Strategies.Biosensors · 2024Review
- Clinical features of cancer with unknown primary site (clinical features, treatment, prognosis of cancer with unknown primary site).BMC cancer · 2022Article
- MicroRNA expression profiling with a droplet digital PCR assay enables molecular diagnosis and prognosis of cancers of unknown primary.Molecular oncology · 2021Article
- Genomic alterations and possible druggable mutations in carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP).Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Review
- [CUP in the liver].Der Pathologe · 2020Review
- Progress in refining the clinical management of cancer of unknown primary in the molecular era.Nature reviews. Clinical oncology · 2020Review
- Exploring the biological hallmarks of cancer of unknown primary: where do we stand today?British journal of cancer · 2020Review
- "Metastatic Cancer of Unknown Primary" or "Primary Metastatic Cancer"?Frontiers in oncology · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCarcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) is a metastatic epithelial malignancy in the absence of an identifiable primary tumour. Prognosis for patients with CUP is poor because treatment options are generally limited to broad spectrum chemotherapy. A shift towards personalised cancer management based on mutation profiling offers the possibility of new treatment paradigms. This study has explored whether actionable, oncogenic driver mutations are present in CUP that have potential to better inform treatment decisions.
methodsCarcinoma of unknown primary cases (n = 21) were selected and DNA was isolated from formalin-fixed paraffin embedded sections prior to amplification and sequencing. Two distinct yet complementary targeted gene panels were used to assess variants in up to 76 known cancer-related genes for the identification of biologically relevant and actionable mutations.
resultsVariants were detected in 17/21 cases (81%) of which 11 (52%) were potentially actionable with drugs currently approved for use in known primary cancer types or undergoing clinical trials. The most common variants detected were in TP53 (47%), KRAS (12%), MET (12%) and MYC (12%). Differences at the molecular level were seen between common CUP histological subtypes. CUP adenocarcinomas and poorly differentiated carcinomas harboured the highest frequency of variants in genes involved in signal transduction pathways (e.g. MET, EGFR, HRAS, KRAS, and BRAF). In contrast, squamous cell carcinoma exhibited a higher frequency of variants in cell cycle control and DNA repair genes (e.g. TP53, CDKN2A and MLH1).
conclusionTaken together, mutations in biologically relevant genes were detected in the vast majority of CUP tumours, of which half provided a potentially novel treatment option not generally considered in CUP.
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Registered trials
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.