Patients often present to their general or primary medical practitioner with heterogeneous, non- specific symptoms and abnormal test results that demonstrate very likely metastatic malignancy but without a clear primary site on history or initial investigations.

While some people may have no symptoms, common symptoms may include (Cancer Council Australia 2017, Vajdic & Goldstein 2015):

• loss of appetite
• fatigue
• weight loss
• breathlessness or discomfort in the chest
• cough
• persistent pain (for example, bone, back, abdomen)
• swelling of the abdomen
• jaundice
• swollen lymph glands
• headaches.