Gene Expression in Tissue From Patients With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group137 enrolled

Overview

RATIONALE: Studying the genes expressed in samples of tumor tissue from patients with cancer may help doctors identify biomarkers related to cancer. PURPOSE: This laboratory study is looking at gene expression in tissue from patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia enrolled in clinical trial ECOG-2993.

OBJECTIVES: * Identify genes involved in specific biologic processes or molecular functions that contribute to the mechanisms by which the BCR/ABL tyrosine kinase induces a leukemic phenotype using RNA banked from patients with BCR/ABL-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) enrolled on ECOG-2993. * Compare patterns of mRNA expression of BCR/ABL fusion protein in patients with B-lineage ALL vs patients with ALL and no cytogenetic abnormalities enrolled on ECOG-2993. * Determine both shared and differing expression patterns in patients with BCR/ABL-positive and cytogenetically negative ALL with respect to achievement of complete remission and duration of disease-free and overall survival. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Total RNA is isolated from stored tissue samples and integrity is verified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). cDNA libraries are created from total RNA and gene expression is analyzed via microarray analysis. Genes of interest are further analyzed by flow cytometry and RT-PCR. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 137 patients will be accrued for this study.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

137

Conditions

Leukemia

Interventions

microarray analysisGENETIC

reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactionGENETIC

flow cytometryOTHER

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 15 YearsMax age: 65 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Confirmed diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia * Tissue banked on protocol ECOG-2993 meeting the following criteria: * Leukemic blast cell population immunophenotyped in detail (e.g., including CD25) in ECOG's Immunophenotyping Reference Laboratory * Flow cytometric analysis of gated blast cells reveals association with the B-cell lineage * Mononuclear cell fraction used for RNA isolation contains 75-99% blasts (median 85%) * Negative for TEL/AML1, MLL/AF4, and E2A/PBX1 by qualitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) * No FLT3 gene mutations * BCR/ABL-positive samples meeting the following criteria: * Presence of t(9;22)(q34;q11) by standard cytogenetics * Detection of either p190 BCR/ABL or p210 BCR/ABL transcripts by qualitative RT-PCR * Patients with genetic risk factors must meet the following criterion: * Only a normal diploid karyotype is present in ≥ 15 metaphases by standard cytogenetics PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: * Not specified PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: * Not specified

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Genes involved in specific biologic processes or molecular functions that contribute to the mechanisms by which the BCR/ABL tyrosine kinase induces a leukemic phenotype

Time frame: 1 month

Comparison of patterns of mRNA expression of BCR/ABL fusion protein in patients with B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) vs patients with ALL who lack cytogenetic abnormalities

Time frame: 1 month

Shared and differing expression patterns in patients with BCR/ABL-positive and cytogenetically negative ALL with respect to achievement of complete remission and duration of disease-free and overall survival

Time frame: 1 month

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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