From October 20 to 24, Central European Summer Time, the 2023 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress was held in Madrid, Spain. The study result of “A randomized phase III trial of site-specific therapy guided by the 90-gene expression assay versus empiric therapy in patients with cancer of unknown primary” completed by Professor Luo Zhiguo's team of Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center was included in the ESMO abstract and presented orally by Professor Luo during the congress（Abstract#1208MO）.

Launched by research team of Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, it is the world's first prospective randomized phase Ⅲ clinical trial of cancer of unknown primary (CUP001). For the first time, the study confirmed that site-specific treatment guided by a 90-gene expression assay can significantly improve PFS and OS, compared with empirical chemotherapy in CUP patients. The PFS of the site-specific therapy group and the empirical chemotherapy group were 9.6 months and 6.6 months, respectively. The OS of site-specific therapy and the empirical chemotherapy group were 28.2 months and 19.0 months, respectively. This clinical trial provides high-level evidence-based medical evidence for gene expression profiling to guide site-specific therapy in cancer of unknown primary patients.

While site-specific treatment of CUP patients guided by 90-gene expression assay is proven to be able to improve the prognosis of patients, the accurate, individualized and standardized scientific diagnosis and treatment of patients with cancer of unknown primary also depends on the interpretation of clinical, pathological and imaging results by a multidisciplinary team. In Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, our multidisciplinary team makes sure the information integration of multiple diagnostic methods helps clinicians to choose targeted therapeutic regimen and improve the clinical efficacy and quality of life of patients with cancer of unknown primary.