A case of metastatic adenocarcinoma of unknown primary in a pediatric
patient: opportunities for precision medicine
Abstract
Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) is a common diagnosis in adult oncology,
but is extremely rare in pediatrics, with few published reports and none
in the era of molecular profiling. Here, we describe a 13-year old boy
with metastatic adenocarcinoma of unknown primary that was refractory to
conventional chemotherapy. Molecular profiling revealed an activating
ERBB2 D769Y variant. He subsequently achieved disease control on a
lapatinib-containing regimen, and upon progression, he transiently
responded to neratinib prior to dying from disease. Our case reports a
rare example of pediatric CUP and highlights the utility of molecular
profiling in these cases.