Primary cancer
Can someone please tell me how they know what the primary cancer is? A lady had an anx clearance and mx but they told her none of the cancer found was the primary source. How do they know? They have n...
Forum Discussion
That’s intriguing! According to the Cancer Council:
What is cancer of unknown primary?
Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) is the term used to describe a metastatic cancer (cancer that has spread) with an unknown starting point.
In Australia, CUP is the fifth most common cause of cancer death in men and fourth most common cause of cancer death in women.
Usually, when cancer spreads, the secondary cancer cells look like abnormal versions of the primary cancer cells (in the tissue where the cancer began). For example, if breast cancer spreads to the lungs, the metastatic tumour in the lung is made up of cancerous breast cells (not lung cells) and is then described as metastatic breast cancer (not lung cancer).
If it is not possible to identify the type of cancer cells the diagnosis is CUP.