„Cancer of unknown primary origin“ – Stellenwert der Strahlentherapie in der multimodalen Behandlung

Treatment of cancer of unknown primary (CUP) remains challenging in terms of pretreatment diagnostics and therapeutic algorithms. Depending on tumor localization and extent, different treatment modalities and sequences can be used.

Various sources of literature as well as national and international guidelines on radiotherapy for the treatment of CUP were evaluated.

Treatment primarily depends on optimal pretherapeutic staging. For localized disease, modern radiotherapy is commonly employed in the treatment of cervical or axillary CUP, either as a primary treatment or postoperatively to improve locoregional tumor control. For metastasized CUP, ablative stereotactic radiotherapy can be used to treat oligometastases, and palliative radiotherapy is employed for palliation.

Treatment of CUP requires an individualized and interdisciplinary approach. Radiotherapy is commonly employed in the curative treatment of cervical or axillary CUP and can be employed for ablation of limited metastases or for palliation of symptomatic disease.