Nested Search Formula

I am trying to use the following formula

=LEFT(J16,SEARCH(",", J16) - 1) ---<where j16 contains the data>

To turn

'Application,Cost,Timeliness'

into

'Application'

My issue is if the the cell contains no commas "," then the formula doesn't work. How do I get it to check for commas first and if it contains them, apply the formula, if it doesn't, leave as is?

EDIT: It needs to be dynamic and not restricted to particular words.

So if the cell contains 'Application' - produce 'Application'.
If it contains 'Cost, Application' - produce 'Cost'
If it contains 'Timeliness, Cost, Application' - produce 'Timeliness'.

etc


Thanks