Highlights & Basics
- Adenocarcinoma of unknown primary site is a common clinical entity, comprising 2% to 4% of all incident cancers worldwide.
- Untreated, prognosis is poor, with a median survival between 3 and 4 months.
- A key goal in the diagnostic workup is to identify subsets of patients with a more favorable clinicopathologic subtype and likely better outcome.
- Systemic chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment for the overwhelming majority of patients.
- Rare subgroups may be candidates for targeted or immune therapies based on results of next-generation sequencing or other biomarkers predictive of response.
Quick Reference
History & Exam
Key Factors
Other Factors
Diagnostics Tests
Treatment Options
Definition
Epidemiology
Etiology
Pathophysiology
Images
CT abdomen with intravenous contrast, revealing numerous enhancing lesions in the right hepatic lobe, with associated ascites. Percutaneous biopsy of one of these hepatic lesions revealed adenocarcinoma, but no primary site was identified during routine workup. This is a typical presentation of AUP
CT abdomen with intravenous contrast, revealing numerous enhancing liver lesions in both hepatic lobes. Percutaneous biopsy of a right lobe lesion revealed adenocarcinoma
Citations
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