Cancer of unknown primary

The cancer of unknown primary team are involved in providing advice and treatment for patients with:

malignancy of unknown origin - this is when a suspicion of cancer is found, but further tests are needed to confirm whether it’s cancer and where it originates from
cancer of unknown primary - this is a term used when cancer has been diagnosed after investigations, but the original site of the cancer cannot be found

Your GP or hospital doctor may have organised some tests due to symptoms you have been experiencing. These results may have shown some abnormalities that needed further investigation. The results may have shown appearances which are outside the normal expected range. Our role is to investigate what may have caused this. This includes ruling out the possibility of cancer.

Our service offers:

advice about tests to help make a diagnosis or rule out cancer
medical treatment
referral for radiotherapy when needed

What to expect when you have been referred

Once we receive your referral, a member of the team will contact you to arrange your initial consultation. Further tests may be needed to help us make a diagnosis depending on your preferences and suitability for treatment.

Our team is made up of oncologists, Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS), radiologists and histopathologists.

If any investigations confirm a cancer diagnosis, your case will be discussed in a specialist Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) meeting. If the investigations confirm it is non-cancerous, you will be discharged back to your GP or the service that referred you.

Any scans and biopsy results will be reviewed in this meeting, and a plan of care will be recommended. This will then be discussed with you by your consultant or CNS.

The treatments recommended to you may include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy or immunotherapy.