Use of cytokeratins 7 and 20 in determining the origin of metastatic carcinoma of unknown primary, with special emphasis on lung cancer.

Metastatic carcinoma of unknown primary is a common problem, accounting for up to 10-15% of all solid tumours at presentation. Proper identification of the site of origin has prognostic and therapeutic significance. Prior immunohistochemical methods to identify the site of origin have been useful in a limited number of cases. Differential cytokeratin staining may be useful in this setting, particularly in identifying metastases from lung cancer. We have identified 144 cases of metastatic carcinoma of unknown primary to bone, lung or liver at Brigham and Women's Hospital between 1 January 1997 and 1 July 1998. Cytokeratin (CK) 7 and CK20 were used in 75 of these cases to narrow down the possible sites of the primary tumours. All of these cases were ambiguous as to the site of the primary tumour. Forty-five cases were CK7+/CK20-, 15 cases were CK7-/CK20-, 9 cases were CK7-/CK20+ and 6 cases were CK7+/CK20+. Three of the cases were selected for detailed presentation and discussion as well as a discussion of the pertinent literature. Overall, the CK7+/CK20- phenotype favours a lung primary, the CK7+/CK20+ phenotype strongly favours transitional cells (urothelial) carcinoma, the CK7-/CK20+ phenotype favours colorectal carcinoma, while the CK7-/CK20- profile is not helpful.