Gemcitabine and cisplatin in patients with carcinoma of unknown primary site

The optimal therapy for carcinoma of unknown primary site (CUPS) is still under investigation. In this retrospective trial, we reported the response rates and overall and progression free survival of 23 CUPS patients that were treated with gemcitabine and cisplatin. The mean age of the patients was 54.95 (32–77). Sixteen (69.6%) of them were males and 7(30.4%) females. Totally 109 cycles with a mean of 6 were administered. Thirteen of 23 patients (56.5%) presented with only one metastatic site, and the liver is the most frequent metastatic site (39.1%). Histologic types were adenocarcinoma in 14 patients (60.8%), squamous carcinoma in 1 patient (4.8%), epithelioid cancer in 3 patients (13%) and undifferentiated cancer in 5 patients (21.7%). Three patient achieved a CR (13%), 4 patients achieved a PR (17.4%) and 8 patients had SD (34.8%) with an overall 30.4% response rate. However, 8 patients had progressive disease with a percentage of 34.8%. The median follow-up time was 10 months (3–42 months). The mean and median survival was 12.5 (3–42) months and 10 months (range, 3–42 months) and progression free survival was 5.5 months (range, 0–23 months). Gemcitabine plus cisplatin may be an effective treatment of CUPS. Therefore additional trials are needed especially with new chemotherapeutics.