Background and objective: Taxane-based combinations appear to be promising for the treatment of carcinoma of unknown primary site (CUPS).
Patients and method: Patients with CUPS not corresponding to any favourable subset were treated with paclitaxel, carboplatin and etoposide. Interaction between various factors with survival was analyzed. A regression model was applied to identify factors with independent prognostic significance.
Results: 48 patients were included and 15 responses were observed with a median overall survival of 7.4 months. In the multivariate analysis, performance status and hypoalbuminemia were negatively associated with overall survival.
Conclusions: Some patients can achieve complete response and prolonged survival. This treatment cannot be recommended for patients with a regular performance status. A better knowledge of prognostic factors and a definition of more subgroups with favourable outcome are needed.