George Zarkavelis, Melina Yerolatsite*, Nanteznta Torounidou, Anna-Lea Amylidi, Pinelopi Gogou, Athanasia Karavasili, Eleftherios Kampletsas and Davide Mauri
Cancers of Unknown Primary (CUP) are not an uncommon clinical entity with high mortality rates. The application of platinum-based chemotherapy is still recommended as the Standard of Care (SOC) for patients with unfavorable CUP although with poor results. Attempts at identifying the primary tumor location with molecular assays have failed to show clinical benefit, while investigations of actionable targetable mutations are hampered by the significant molecular heterogeneity of CUP. Liquid biopsies, due to their inherent advantages such as being minimally invasive and allowing for the identification of temporal and spatial tumor heterogeneity, may provide an appealing alternative to elucidate the molecular background of CUP and tailor timely and individualized targeted and specific treatments. Although data are limited regarding the possible applications of circulating tumor DNA (ct-DNA) in CUP, they warrant further investigation.
