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Site-specific cancer deaths in cancer of unknown primary diagnosed with lymph node metastasis may reveal hidden primaries.

Hemminki, Kari LU ; Bevier, Melanie LU ; Sundquist, Jan LU and Hemminki, A (2012) In International Journal of Cancer
Abstract
Cancer of unknown primary site (CUP) is a fatal cancer ranking among the five most common cancer deaths. CUP is diagnosed through metastases, which are limited to lymph nodes in some patients. Cause-specific survival data could guide the search for hidden primary tumors and help with therapeutic choices. The CUP patients were identified from the Swedish Cancer Registry between 1987 and 2008; 1444 patients had only lymph node metastasis of defined histology (adenocarcinoma, squamous cell or undifferentiated). Site-specific cancer deaths were analyzed by lymph node location and histology. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were compared with metastatic primary cancer at related sites. Among the patients with metastasis to head and neck lymph... (More)
Cancer of unknown primary site (CUP) is a fatal cancer ranking among the five most common cancer deaths. CUP is diagnosed through metastases, which are limited to lymph nodes in some patients. Cause-specific survival data could guide the search for hidden primary tumors and help with therapeutic choices. The CUP patients were identified from the Swedish Cancer Registry between 1987 and 2008; 1444 patients had only lymph node metastasis of defined histology (adenocarcinoma, squamous cell or undifferentiated). Site-specific cancer deaths were analyzed by lymph node location and histology. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were compared with metastatic primary cancer at related sites. Among the patients with metastasis to head and neck lymph nodes, 117 (59.1% of the specific cancer deaths) died of lung tumors. Patients with axillary lymph node metastasis died of lung and breast tumors in equal proportions (40.2% each). Also, squamous cell CUP in head and neck lymph nodes was mainly associated with lung tumor deaths (53.1%). With a few exceptions, survival of CUP patients with lymph node metastasis was indistinguishable from survival of patients with metastatic primary cancer originating from the organs drained by those nodes. The association between lymph node CUP metastases with cancer deaths in the drained organ and the superimposable survival kinetics suggests that drained organs host hidden primaries. Importantly, half of all site-specific cancer deaths (266/530) were due to lung tumors. Thus, an intense search should be mounted to find lung cancer in CUP patients with lymph node metastases.© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
International Journal of Cancer
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • wos:000314069400022
  • pmid:22730111
  • scopus:84871399411
  • pmid:22730111
ISSN
0020-7136
DOI
10.1002/ijc.27678
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4116877b-a8fc-4ddf-b253-c7ad4a8a4870 (old id 2859042)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22730111?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 08:18:30
date last changed
2022-01-29 03:21:18
@article{4116877b-a8fc-4ddf-b253-c7ad4a8a4870,
  abstract     = {{Cancer of unknown primary site (CUP) is a fatal cancer ranking among the five most common cancer deaths. CUP is diagnosed through metastases, which are limited to lymph nodes in some patients. Cause-specific survival data could guide the search for hidden primary tumors and help with therapeutic choices. The CUP patients were identified from the Swedish Cancer Registry between 1987 and 2008; 1444 patients had only lymph node metastasis of defined histology (adenocarcinoma, squamous cell or undifferentiated). Site-specific cancer deaths were analyzed by lymph node location and histology. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were compared with metastatic primary cancer at related sites. Among the patients with metastasis to head and neck lymph nodes, 117 (59.1% of the specific cancer deaths) died of lung tumors. Patients with axillary lymph node metastasis died of lung and breast tumors in equal proportions (40.2% each). Also, squamous cell CUP in head and neck lymph nodes was mainly associated with lung tumor deaths (53.1%). With a few exceptions, survival of CUP patients with lymph node metastasis was indistinguishable from survival of patients with metastatic primary cancer originating from the organs drained by those nodes. The association between lymph node CUP metastases with cancer deaths in the drained organ and the superimposable survival kinetics suggests that drained organs host hidden primaries. Importantly, half of all site-specific cancer deaths (266/530) were due to lung tumors. Thus, an intense search should be mounted to find lung cancer in CUP patients with lymph node metastases.© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.}},
  author       = {{Hemminki, Kari and Bevier, Melanie and Sundquist, Jan and Hemminki, A}},
  issn         = {{0020-7136}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Cancer}},
  title        = {{Site-specific cancer deaths in cancer of unknown primary diagnosed with lymph node metastasis may reveal hidden primaries.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ijc.27678}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/ijc.27678}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}