Read press release Cancer of unknown primary Key Facts
Key messages on incidence and mortality and a summary table of the statistics for cancer of unknown primary are given here.
More comprehensive information and statistics for cancer of unknown primary is here: incidence.
- Download these Key Facts Cancer of unknown primary Key Facts
The latest statistics available for cancer of unknown primary are; incidence 2010 and mortality 2010. Source years are specified in the statistics table. Find out why these are the latest statistics available.
- Patients are recorded as having cancer of unknown primary (CUP) if the primary site of the cancer cannot be established or the tumour has been registered without specification of site. Some patients diagnosed initially with CUP may then have their primary site determined (either during the diagnostic/treatment process or death) and will leave no trace of their initial diagnosis; other patients with CUP may be incorrectly registered - for example, if a cancer registry does not receive sufficient information to know the site of malignancy, they may be misclassified as CUP.
- Other patients may be registered as having cancer of unknown primary if they had such advanced disease that they did not go through investigations to find the primary site or where a patient died from cancer and it is clinically irrelevant to ascertain what specific cancer the patient died from.
section reviewed 14/01/13
section updated 19/07/12
- In 2010, around 9,600 people were diagnosed with cancer of unknown primary in the UK, that’s 26 people every day.
- Cancer of unknown primary can develop at any age, but more than three-quarters of cases are diagnosed in people aged 65 and over.
- Cancer of unknown primary accounts for around 3% of all newly diagnosed cancers in the UK, and 6% in people aged 85 and over.
- Cancer of unknown primary incidence rates in the UK have decreased by around 45% since the mid-1990s. There are probably several reasons for the decline in cancer of unknown primary incidence rates, including improvements in diagnostic methods, and better registration practices.
Read more in-depth cancer of unknown primary incidence statistics.
section reviewed 14/01/13
section updated 14/01/13
- In 2010 in the UK, there were around 10,500 deaths from cancer of unknown primary.
section reviewed 22/02/13
section updated 19/07/12
| CANCER OF UNKNOWN PRIMARY STATISTICS | Males | Females | Persons | Country | Year3 |
| Number of new cases per year | 4,415 | 5,170 | 9,585 | UK | 2010 |
| Incidence rate per 100,000 population1 | 10.9 | 9.7 | 10.2 | ||
| Number of deaths per year2 | 4,815 | 5,657 | 10,472 | UK | 2010 |
| Mortality rate per 100,000 population1 | 11.6 | 10.1 | 10.7 |
1. European age-standardised 2. Deaths can be higher than cases because of how the data is recorded
3. Latest statistics available
More detailed cancer of unknown primary incidence statistics can be found using this link: incidence.
section reviewed 22/02/13
section updated 14/01/13
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