Survival for cancer of unknown primary (CUP)
Survival depends on many factors. No one can tell you exactly how long you will live.
Below are general statistics based on large groups of people. Remember, they can’t tell you what will happen in your individual case.
About these statistics
The terms 1 year survival and 5 year survival don't mean that you will only live for 1 or 5 years.
The NHS, other health organisations, and researchers collect information. They watch what happens to people with cancer in the years after their diagnosis. 5 years is a common time point to measure survival. But some people live much longer than this.
5 year survival is the number of people who have not died from their cancer within 5 years after diagnosis.
Survival for cancer of unknown primary
There are no UK-wide survival statistics for CUP.
1 and 5 year survival statistics are available for both Northern Ireland and Wales. These figures are for people diagnosed with CUP in Northern Ireland between 2012-2016, and in Wales between 2014-2018.
Generally for all those with CUP:
- almost 25 out of 100 people (almost 25%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more
- around 15 out of 100 people (around 15%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more
Wales
Public Health Wales, Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit, Cancer Survival in Wales; cancers diagnosed 2014 to 2018, followed up to 2023:
Cancer survival - Public Health Wales
Northern Ireland
Survival (cancers diagnosed 2012-2016, followed up to 2021)
Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, Queens University Belfast, 2020 Cancer incidence, survival, mortality and prevalence data
These 1 and 5 year statistics are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.
What affects survival?
Your outlook depends on several factors. It is best to talk to your own specialist. They should be able to give you a broad idea about your outlook. Even then, it is very difficult for your specialist to be accurate.
There are some factors that might mean that people with cancer of unknown primary (CUP) have a better outlook. This is in comparison with people with CUP who don’t have these factors. These factors help your doctor decide what treatment is best for you. They include having:
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cancer cells in the lymph nodes in your neck. This suggests that the primary cancer is a head and neck squamous cell cancer
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cancer cells in the lymph nodes in the armpit (axilla). This might mean that the primary cancer is in the breast
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cancer spread in just one area or organ of your body. For example, having one tumour in the liver or lungs
Other factors that affect your outlook include:
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how well your cancer responds to the treatment
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how widespread your cancer is
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your general health and level of fitness
More detailed statistics
You can read other statistics about cancer of unknown primary in our Cancer Statistics section.
