Genetics and Health

Adenocarcinoma of Unknown Origin and Blog of the Week: too sexy for my hair

by Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD on August 20th, 2005

If you’d like to have your blog featured in this weekly series, please leave a comment below.

This week’s featured blog is too sexy for my hair: A Cancer Blog. Lori was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma (cancer) stage IV* just seven weeks after her wedding in 2002; the cancer had already spread to her liver and lungs. Since then, she’s endured repeated rounds of chemotherapy which has resulted in hair loss, early menopause, immune system suppression, extreme fatigue, and other debilitating side-effects.

Through it all, she has maintained her good humor and started her blog in May 2005. One month later, her husband, Cary Miller, began writing the Cancer NewsWatch blog in an effort to keep up on the latest cancer news as well as help other people understand more about cancer and related “treatment, research, nutrition and alternative medicine.” Lori and Cary complement each other not just in their marriage, but in their blogs as well. The raw emotions in too sexy for my hair are balanced by the analytical and thoughtful information presented in Cancer NewsWatch.

I’ve become a regular reader of both Lori’s and Cary’s blogs. I think you’ll find them special too.

~~~A Little More About Cancers of Unknown Origin~~~

According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 2-4% of cancer patients have carcinoma of unknown origin - meaning it’s impossible to categorize it as breast, liver, lung, or other organ-specific types of cancers. Some recent experiments involve the use of DNA microarrays and biomarkers to determine the origin of the cancer.

In the May 2005 issue of Cancer Research, Australian researchers studied the gene expression patterns (determining which genes are on or off) of 229 primary and metastatic tumors representing 14 tumor types and multiple histologic subtypes. Using the data generated from this study, researchers were able to develop a model that accurately predicted 11 out of 13 cases.

Identifying gene expression signatures using DNA microarrays could lead the way to a better understanding of the root causes of all types of cancer. Then, pathway-specific targeted therapies can be developed which make it possible to manage and cure the disease.

*The stages of cancer is determined with the size of the tumor(s) and the degree of invasiveness. Stage IV cancer is rare, but it is the most serious having spread to other parts of the body.

NB: Next Saturday’s genetics quiz will be about the genes involved in cancer.

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