Seminars in oncology
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Seminars in oncology · Jun 1993
ReviewPoorly differentiated carcinoma and poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of unknown primary tumor site.
Our understanding of this heterogeneous group of tumors continues to evolve. At present, clinicopathological observations, as well as conclusions regarding optimal therapy, are based on a small number of single-institution phase II studies. The exact incidence of PDC or PDA of unknown primary tumor site is unknown, as is the percent of highly treatable tumors contained within this group. ⋯ Although some responsive patients in this group have extragonadal germ cell tumors that are unrecognizable using standard pathological techniques, the majority of responders do not have clinical features suggesting this diagnosis. Likewise, no evidence exists to suggest that all responsive tumors belong to well-recognized groups of responsive tumors that could be identified by more careful or thorough pathological study. It is probable that future improvements in diagnostic pathology will result in better characterization of these tumors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)