TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the biological hallmarks of cancer of unknown primary
T2 - where do we stand today?
AU - Rassy, Elie
AU - Assi, Tarek
AU - Pavlidis, Nicholas
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Cancer Research UK.
PY - 2020/4/14
Y1 - 2020/4/14
N2 - Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) affects a small percentage of the general population. Nonetheless, a substantial number of these patients have a poor prognosis and consequently succumb to their illness within a year of diagnosis. The natural history of CUP is characterised by early metastasis from the unknown primary site, aggressive course and resistance to conventional chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the processes by which this orphan disease originates and progresses have not been fully elucidated and its biology remain unclear. Despite the conceptual progress in genetic and molecular profiling made over the past decade, recognition of the genetic and molecular abnormalities involved in CUP, as well as the identification of the tissue of origin remain unresolved issues. This review will outline the biology of CUP by exploring the hallmarks of cancer in order to rationalise the complexities of this enigmatic syndrome. This approach will help the reader to understand where research efforts currently stand and the pitfalls of this quest.
AB - Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) affects a small percentage of the general population. Nonetheless, a substantial number of these patients have a poor prognosis and consequently succumb to their illness within a year of diagnosis. The natural history of CUP is characterised by early metastasis from the unknown primary site, aggressive course and resistance to conventional chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the processes by which this orphan disease originates and progresses have not been fully elucidated and its biology remain unclear. Despite the conceptual progress in genetic and molecular profiling made over the past decade, recognition of the genetic and molecular abnormalities involved in CUP, as well as the identification of the tissue of origin remain unresolved issues. This review will outline the biology of CUP by exploring the hallmarks of cancer in order to rationalise the complexities of this enigmatic syndrome. This approach will help the reader to understand where research efforts currently stand and the pitfalls of this quest.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85079442454&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41416-019-0723-z
DO - 10.1038/s41416-019-0723-z
M3 - Review article
C2 - 32042068
AN - SCOPUS:85079442454
SN - 0007-0920
VL - 122
SP - 1124
EP - 1132
JO - British Journal of Cancer
JF - British Journal of Cancer
IS - 8
ER -