Warnyta Minnaard | Patient advocate
Missie Tumor Onbekend

Warnyta Minnaard (1989) is one of the founders of ‘Missie Tumor Onbekend’, the Dutch advocacy and patient organisation for patients and families that deal with cancer of unknown primary (CUP). CUP is the 4th most common metastatic cancer in the Netherlands. After her partner Hederik passed away amidst an ongoing and unfinished diagnotic trajectory from leptomenigial metastases from a CUP in early 2019, Warnyta started on a mission to chance the situation for current and furute patients. It’s her goal to expedite access to better (molecular) diagnostics, improve knowledge and awareness of CUP, and enhance the care pathways and support for patients and their families.
 The patient organisation has been instrumental in achieving fully reimbursed access to Whole Genome Sequencing for CUP patients in the Netherlands in 2021, and ever since 8 CUP specialised clinics have opened and the national clinical guidelines are being revised. In 2025 a first national CUP clinical trial in imaging started. Our aim is to continue to contribute to improved diagnostics, treatment and care opportunities for this patient group as unfortunately a substantial amount of patients still die within less than 2 months after their first hospital visit in case the missing primary tumor cannot be detected on time. In 2023 Warnyta together with CUP patient advocates in Ireland and England founded the international CUP umbrella advocacy organization World CUP Alliance so that through international collaboration and parthership more opportunities could arise for CUP patients across the world.