Development of the optimal care pathway for cancer of unknown primary

摘要: Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) is a distinct clinical entity. In Aus-tralia in 2013, CUP was the sixth leading cause of cancer death with 2704 new cases seen. CUP refers to a metastatic malignancy for which a standardised diagnostic work-up fails to identify the primary site of origin. CUP is a very heterogeneous disease in which the type of tumour, the extent of disease, and the outcome of treatment all vary widely. CUP patients can be at risk of falling through the gaps of a tumour stream model of care. Although international guidelines for the management of CUP exist, there are currently no national Australian guidelines for CUP care. The optimal cancer care pathways (OCPs) describe opti ma I cancer care for specific tumour types. They describe the key stages in a patients cancer journey and expected optimal care at each stage to ensure all people affected by cancer get the highest-quality care, regard-less of …