RATIONALE: Studying samples of blood and tissue from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about cancer and the development of drug resistance in patients. It may also help doctors find better ways to treat cancer. PURPOSE: This research trial is studying samples from patients with leukemia.
OBJECTIVES: * Demonstrate the capability of primary human leukemia samples to survive and proliferate in the zebrafish embryo. * Confirm the anti-proliferative or toxic effects of known chemotherapeutics on the transplanted cells in vivo. * Evaluate the effect of novel anticancer drugs and/or their combinations on individual samples. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Cryopreserved specimens are injected into the yolk sac of zebrafish embryos under anesthesia. After 1 hour of recovery at 28° C, embryos are maintained at 38° C and screened for fluorescence at the injection site. Within 48 hours post-injection, some embryos are treated with various chemotherapeutic drugs or dimethyl sulfoxide and incubated in protease solution. Proliferation of leukemia cells are monitored by live-cell microscopy. Cells with or without drug treatment are then extracted at 24 and 72 hours post-injection. Leukemia cells are counted and tested with imatinib mesylate, all-trans retinoic acid (tretinoin), cytosine arabinose, and known bioactive chemical compounds from promising drug families, such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors, antiapoptotic agents, channel modulators, and prostaglandin agonists.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
10
Primary human leukemia samples capable to survive and proliferate in the zebrafish embryo
In vivo confirmation of anti-proliferative or toxic effects of known chemotherapeutic agents on the transplanted cells
Effects of novel anticancer drugs and/or their combinations on individual samples
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