Surgery for a Cancer of Unknown Primary
Surgery is a common treatment for many types of cancer if they are found at an early stage. But because cancer of unknown primary (CUP) has already spread beyond the site where it started, surgery is less likely to be helpful.
Surgery may be an option if the cancer is found only in the lymph nodes or in one organ, where the surgeon may be able to remove it all. However, there’s still a chance that the cancer may be elsewhere in the body. If you are considering surgery as a treatment option, it’s important to understand how likely it is to help you.
The type and extent of surgery will depend on where the cancer is and how extensive it is. If surgery is used, it may be followed by radiation therapy and possibly chemotherapy to try to kill any remaining cancer cells in the body.
More information about Surgery
For more general information about surgery as a treatment for cancer, see Cancer Surgery.
To learn about some of the side effects listed here and how to manage them, see Managing Cancer-related Side Effects.
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The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
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National Cancer Institute. Physician Data Query (PDQ). Cancer of Unknown Primary Treatment. 07/25/2015. Accessed at: https://www.cancer.gov/types/unknown-primary/hp/unknown-primary-treatment-pdq on February 9, 2018.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Occult Primary. v.1.2018. Accessed at https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/pdf/occult.pdf on February 9, 2018.
Tomuleasa C, Zaharie F, Muresan MS, Pop L, Fekete Z, Dima D, Frinc I, Trifa A, Berce C, Jurj A, Berindan-Neagoe I, Zdrenghea M. How to diagnose and treat a cancer of unknown primary site. J Gastrointestin Liver Dis. 2017 Mar;26(1):69-79. doi: 10.15403/jgld.2014.1121.261.haz.
Varadhachary GR, Lenzi R, Raber MN, Abbruzzese JL. Carcinoma of Unknown Primary In: Neiderhuber JE, Armitage JO, Doroshow JH, Kastan MB, Tepper JE, eds. Abeloff’s Clinical Oncology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA. Elsevier: 2014:1792-1803.
Last Revised: March 9, 2018
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