Meeting a unique challenge

Cancer diagnosis—like cancer treatment—is advancing rapidly. Most of the 1.4 million new cancer cases that occur each year in the United States are rapidly diagnosed, and patients can begin treatment right away. Yet up to 10% of these new cancer cases involve tumors in which there is no definitive diagnosis after an initial diagnostic workup.¹

There are several reasons why these tumors can be difficult to diagnose:

• The cancer is found in an unexpected location.
• The cancer is found in multiple locations, indicating metastatic disease.
• The tumor cells are poorly differentiated or undifferentiated, making them difficult to interpret.

National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) treatment guidelines emphasize the importance of treating a cancer based on its origin—so it is important to know where the cancer began in a person's body. Cancers are named based on this point of origin—so a kidney cancer that spreads to the lungs is still called a kidney cancer. Knowing what type of tumor a patient has enables the treatment team to begin the most appropriate treatment as soon as possible.

Metastatic, poorly differentiated, and undifferentiated tumors present a special challenge to doctors because even advanced diagnostic technologies and tests cannot always tell what type of tumor a person has.

It's a challenge for patients and their loved ones as well, when multiple rounds of testing and imaging procedures are required, hours are spent traveling or in waiting rooms, and tumors still aren't identified with certainty. In addition, knowing what type of cancer their loved one has can help to clarify potential risks for other family members.

Learn how the FDA-cleared Pathwork Tissue of Origin Test is aiding in tumor identification.

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