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Newly Diagnosed Carcinoma of Unknown Primary
If the cancer is in the neck area (cervical lymph nodes), treatment may be one
of the following:
- Surgery to remove the tonsils (tonsillectomy).
- Radiation therapy.
- Radiation therapy followed by surgery.
- Neck surgery (radical neck dissection).
- Neck surgery followed by radiation therapy.
(Refer to the PDQ summary on Metastatic Squamous Neck Cancer With Occult
Primary for more information.)
If the cancer is a poorly differentiated carcinoma (the cancer cells look very
different than normal cells), the treatment will probably be chemotherapy. Surgery or radiation therapy has also been used for patients with neuroendocrine (nervous system and hormonal system) cancer.
If the cancer is peritoneal adenocarcinomatosis (the tumor is in the lining
inside the abdomen), the treatment will probably be chemotherapy.
If the cancer is an isolated axillary nodal metastasis, it is likely that the
cancer started in the lung or breast. If female, a mammogram (an x-ray picture
of the breast) will be used to check for breast cancer. After tests to check
for lung and breast cancer, the treatment may be one of the following:
- Surgery to remove the lymph nodes with or without surgery to remove the
breast (mastectomy) or radiation therapy to the breast.
- Treatment as described above plus chemotherapy that is used for breast
cancer.
If the cancer is in the inguinal nodes, the treatment may be one of the
following:
- Surgery to remove the cancer.
- Groin surgery (superficial groin dissection).
- Surgery to remove some of the tumor (biopsy) with or without radiation therapy, surgery to remove the lymph nodes, or chemotherapy.
If the cancer is melanoma that has spread to a single nodal site, the treatment
will probably be surgery to remove the lymph nodes.
If there is cancer in several different areas of the body and the doctor thinks
that the origin of the cancer is one for which there is standard systemic
therapy, then that therapy should be given. The following are examples:
- Hormone therapy for prostate cancer.
- Chemotherapy or hormone therapy for breast cancer.
- Chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.
If the source of the cancer cannot be found, then the best treatment may not be
known. Patients may want to consider taking part in a clinical trial.
Check for clinical trials from NCI's PDQ Cancer Clinical Trials Registry that are now accepting patients with newly diagnosed carcinoma of unknown primary.
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