Cancer of unknown primary (CUP)
Treatment
How is cancer of unknown primary (CUP) treated?
You may be disappointed that the primary cancer cannot be found, however there are still treatment options open to you.
Your treatment will depend on a number of things including:
- Where in the body your secondary cancer is located
- Where in the body your primary cancer is suspected of starting
- Test results
- Your general health
You may have more than one type of treatment. These can include:
This is the most common treatment for CUP. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill or control the growth of cancer cells.
Read more about chemotherapy.
This is the use of high-energy rays to kill the cancer cells.
Read more about radiotherapy.
Hormones are chemical substances made by glands in the body. They have a huge role to play in how the body works, affecting things like growth, metabolism, sexual function, reproduction and mood.
Some cancers are what is known as hormone sensitive or hormone dependent. This means they use hormones to grow or develop. Hormone therapy works by blocking or lowering the amount of certain hormones in the body, with the aim of stopping or slowing down the growth of cancer.
Immunotherapy treatment helps your immune system to work better to fight cancer cells.
Read more about immunotherapy.
Targeted drug therapies target certain parts of cancer cells that make them different from normal cells. They can help stop cancer from spreading, slow its growth or destroy cancer cells that have spread to other parts of the body.
Read more about targeted therapies.
Surgery involves making a cut in your body to remove tissue. For example, to remove a tumour. Surgery is more often used to treat cancer found at an early stage. Because CUP has already spread, surgery may not be the best treatment. However, it may be used in some cases. For example, if the secondary tumour can be easily removed.
Will I get side-effects?
The type of side-effects you get will depend on the type of treatment, the dose, the duration and your own general health.
Your doctor or nurse will discuss any possible side-effects with you before your treatment. Read about the different treatments to find out more about possible side-effects.
You can also read our section coping with side-effects and symptoms for more information and advice.
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