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Tumor biology may guide therapy for cancers of unknown primary site
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Treatment can be provided to patients with cancers of unknown primary site based on tumor pathway analysis and identification of targets for which current therapies exist, according to study findings presented at the European Cancer Congress.
“Previous attempts to characterize cancer of unknown primary site have only managed to provide a statistical likelihood of a potential primary organ site, and for the most part have not addressed the question of whether a particular treatment is likely to be effective,” researcher Zoran Gatalica, MD, DSc, adjunct professor of pathology at Creighton University School of Medicine and executive director of Caris Life Sciences in Phoenix, said in a press release.
The analysis included more than 1,350 patients with cancers of unknown primary site. Gatalica and colleagues were able to identify biomarkers for treatment in 77% of patients.
The biomarkers included overexpression of steroid receptors or MET proteins and PTEN protein loss. Researchers were able to identify EGFR, BRAF and PIK3CA mutations and variations in gene copies of HER2, TOP2A and MET, among others.
Identification of these protein or gene expressions and mutations also enabled researchers to redefine cases as primary cancers.
“We believe that our research signals a paradigm shift in the treatment of cancers of unknown primary site, from treatment based on an attempt to define the location of the primary site to treatment based on the biology of the tumor,” Gatalica said in a press release. “As more targets and targeted therapies are discovered, the chances of finding those that will benefit individual patients will increase.”
For more information:
Gatalica Z. Abstract #LBA39. Presented at: The European Cancer Congress 2013. Sept. 27 – Oct. 2, 2013; Amsterdam.
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of the researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.
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Cornelis van de Velde, MD, PhD
Any diagnosis of cancer is worrisome for a patient, but cancer of unknown primary site is particularly so. These encouraging results show that, even in cases where the primary site is not known, it is increasingly possible to select an effective targeted treatment and, hence, improve survival times.
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