Molecular Test Aids in Identifying Cancers of Unknown Origin - Medscape (pathology/molecular diagnostic test - 15 different cancer types...)

".....The identity of most tumors can be determined "with confidence" by clinicians with histologic, clinical, and radiographic findings, say the study authors, led by James P. Grenert, MD, from the Department of Pathology at UCSF. "However, when tumors are poorly differentiated or metastatic with no clear primary, identifying the tissue of origin is difficult," they write.
Immunohistochemical stains may or may not be helpful in identifying the tumor origin. Molecular testing of tumors is an additional means of characterizing these tumors, the authors say.
TOO is the only molecular diagnostic test for cancer tissue of origin cleared by the US Food and Drug Association, the manufacturer notes. It is limited to identifying 15 types of tumor tissues: bladder, breast, colorectal, gastric, testicular germ cell, kidney, hepatocellular, nonsmall-cell lung, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, melanoma, ovarian, pancreas, prostate, thyroid, and sarcoma. These 15 tumor types represent 90% of all cancers, the company points out....."cont'd

The study was funded in part by a grant from Pathwork Diagnostics.
Clin Chim Acta. 2011;412:1462–1464. Abstract