Collecting and Storing Tissue From Young Patients With Cancer

Official Title

Establishing Continuous Cell Lines and Xenografts From Pediatric Cancers for Biological and Pre-Clinical Therapeutic Studies

Summary:

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.

Trial Description

Primary Outcome:

• Establishment and banking of cell lines and/or xenografts from pediatric patients with cancer
• Establishment of continuous cell lines, under carefully controlled conditions, from pediatric patients with cancer
• Establishment of transplantable xenografts in immunocompromised mice from tumour cells that are difficult to establish as continuous cell lines in vitro
• Creation of a bank of cell lines and generation of sufficient vials of cryopreserved cells for distribution to investigators with approved COG biology protocols
• Characterization of cell lines from childhood cancers with respect to DNA PCR molecular HLA profile as a "fingerprint" of original cell line identity
• Characterization of cell lines for the ability for sustained growth in tissue culture and/or as mouse xenografts
• Characterization of cell lines for mycoplasma contamination
• Characterization of cell lines for expression of molecular makers that confirm the tumour-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

Primary Objectives:

• Establish and bank cell lines and/or xenografts from pediatric patients with cancer.
• Establish continuous cell lines, under carefully controlled conditions, from pediatric patients with cancer.
• Establish transplantable xenografts in immunocompromised mice from tumour cells that are difficult to establish as continuous cell lines in vitro.
• Create a bank of cell lines and generate sufficient vials of cryopreserved cells for distribution to investigators with approved COG biology protocols.
• Characterize cell lines from childhood cancers with respect to DNA short tandem repeat molecular profile as a "fingerprint" of original cell line identity.
• Characterize cell lines for the ability for sustained growth in tissue culture and/or as mouse xenografts.
• Characterize cell lines for mycoplasma contamination.
• Characterize cell lines for expression of molecular makers that confirm the tumour-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 multicentre study. Specimens are stratified according to disease (acute lymphoblastic leukemia vs acute myeloid leukemia vs lymphoma vs osteogenic sarcoma vs Ewing family of tumours vs rhabdomyosarcoma vs primitive neuroectodermal tumour vs glioma vs astrocytoma vs rhabdoid tumours vs hepatoblastoma vs retinoblastoma vs Wilms tumour vs germ cell tumours 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.

View this trial on ClinicalTrials.gov