Collecting and Storing Tissue From Young Patients With Cancer

Overview

This laboratory study is collecting and storing tissue, blood, and bone marrow samples from young patients with cancer. Collecting and storing samples of tissue, blood, and bone marrow from patients with cancer to study in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that may occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to cancer.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. Establish and bank cell lines and/or xenografts from pediatric patients with cancer. II. Establish continuous cell lines, under carefully controlled conditions, from pediatric patients with cancer. III. Establish transplantable xenografts in immunocompromised mice from tumor cells that are difficult to establish as continuous cell lines in vitro. IV. Create a bank of cell lines and generate sufficient vials of cryopreserved cells for distribution to investigators with approved COG biology protocols. V. Characterize cell lines from childhood cancers with respect to DNA short tandem repeat molecular profile as a "fingerprint" of original cell line identity. VI. Characterize cell lines for the ability for sustained growth in tissue culture and/or as mouse xenografts. VII. Characterize cell lines for mycoplasma contamination. VIII. Characterize cell lines for expression of molecular makers that confirm the tumor-type of the cell line and the immortal nature of the cells (telomerase) and the expression of molecular markers that may correlate with drug resistance. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Specimens are stratified according to disease (acute lymphoblastic leukemia vs acute myeloid leukemia vs lymphoma vs osteogenic sarcoma vs Ewing family of tumors vs rhabdomyosarcoma vs primitive neuroectodermal tumor vs glioma vs astrocytoma vs rhabdoid tumors vs hepatoblastoma vs retinoblastoma vs Wilms tumor vs germ cell tumors vs other diagnoses). Leftover tissue from diagnostic procedures and/or surgery is cryopreserved and banked. Blood and/or bone marrow are also collected and banked. Cell lines are established and characterized via reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and/or flow cytometry for biomarkers and by DNA fingerprinting. Markers to be identified may include the following: NEUROBLASTOMA: tyrosine hydroxylase, protein gene product (PGP) 9.5, GD2, HLA class I, and HSAN 1.2 antigens EWING FAMILY OF TUMORS: EWS-FLI1, EWS-ERG, and PGP 9.5 RETINOBLASTOMA: interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA: immunophenotype ALVEOLOR RHADOMYOSARCOMA: PAX3-FKHR, PAX7-FKHR, and MyoD1 ALL CELL TYPES: telomerase expression including hTR and hTERTMutations of TP53 gene are detected by flow cytometry and/or immunocytochemistry. No results of these tests are provided to the patient, the patient's physician, or the patient's medical records.