Tissue of Origin Test | Increased Certainty of Molecular Pathology by Pathwork Diagnostics

Clinical Information
Increased Certainty of Molecular Pathology

Why determine the tissue of origin?

When tumor origins are known, patient outcomes and even survival¹ can improve. This is because oncologists have better information on which to base treatment strategies and can allow patients to benefit from today's advanced tumor-specific treatments.

This is particularly important given the emergence of new cancer-specific therapies, and can also help patients enroll in potentially lifesaving clinical trials. Targeted therapies can be effective even with metastatic tumors and are generally tumor-specific (e.g., Herceptin for breast cancer), requiring identification of the primary tumor site/tissue of origin. Therapy targeted to specific tumor types can allow patients to avoid the toxicity of broader, and in some cases, useless chemotherapy.

References
1. Abbruzzese JL, Abbruzzese MC, Lenzi R, Hess KR, Raber MN. Analysis of a diagnostic strategy for patients with suspected tumors of unknown origin. J Clin Oncol. 1995;13:2094-103.
2. Briasoulis E, Pavlidis N. Cancer of unknown primary origin. Oncologist. 1997;2:142-152.