What is it?

Sinonasal Undifferentiated Carcinoma (SNUC) is a rare and highly aggressive neoplasm arising from the nasal cavity. Fewer than 100 patients have ever been diagnosed, and there appear to be only a handful alive in the US at any one time.

Why are we involved?

Andrei Makovik was employed in the Information Technology department at Cayman Chemical. In November 2004, when he was 37, it was discovered that he had a large, invasive tumor of the nasal sinuses. Over the next year and a half, he underwent multiple surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. There was fluctuation in the severity of the cancer and its symptoms. He was further treated with oral thalidomide combination chemotherapy. Andrei continued to be active and feel reasonably well until March 2006, when MRI scans showed continued slow expansion of the brain metastases. All treatment was discontinued, and his functional status deteriorated rapidly soon thereafter. Andrei died of respiratory arrest on May 11, 2006.

Where are we now?

After many years struggling to grow SNUC cells in culture, we have established the unexpected fact that although SNUC is a vigorous and rapidly growing cancer within a human host, it is almost incapable of growing in a petri dish. Andy Martin spent almost his entire life post-diagnosis trying to culture his own SNUC cells in Dr. Curiel’s lab. The Cayman team has also worked for years, trying to coax some life out of cells that divide much more slowly than normal HEK or other mammalian cells. Recognizing that this approach was futile, we have turned instead to whole tumor genome sequencing.

Tumor whole genome sequencing will allow us to read the entire “instruction manual” of SNUC cells. Using Andrei's cranial biopsy specimen as a DNA source, and in collaboration with the University of Michigan groups headed by Dr. Larry Marentette and Dr. Arul Chinnaiyan, sequencing of the SNUC genome began in 2011 and is now completed. Results will be reported in an upcoming research publication.

Urgently Needed: Additional fresh frozen SNUC tumor biopsy samples

In order to draw meaningful conclusions, we need to sequence SNUC tumor samples from as many different patients as possible. It does not matter whether the cancer has been treated, but it is very helpful to have the tissue frozen immediately on collection. Anyone who is a recently diagnosed SNUC patient or a friend or relative of one, please contact us at admin@cabrimed.org

Thank you to