RATIONALE: Collecting and storing samples of tumor tissue from patients with soft tissue sarcoma to test in the laboratory may help the study of cancer in the future.

PURPOSE: This laboratory is collecting tissue samples from patients with soft tissue sarcoma of the arms, hands, legs, or feet treated on clinical trial CRUK-VORTEX.

OBJECTIVES:

• Determine early in the course of treatment which patients treated on clinical trial CRUK-VORTEX have an increased likelihood of distant metastases so as to highlight individuals who might benefit from early adjuvant systemic therapy.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.

Tumour and normal tissue samples will be taken at the time of surgery during treatment on clinical trial CRUK-VORTEXand preserved for future microarray analyses. Tissue microarrays will be produced from both tumor and normal tissues. Blood samples will be collected for future DNA analysis.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed soft tissue sarcoma
• Receiving treatment on clinical trial CRUK-VORTEX
• Underwent surgery to remove the tumor no more than 3 months ago

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 3 months after completion of study treatment
• No other major medical illness that would preclude study treatment
• No other prior or concurrent malignancy except adequately treated nonmelanoma carcinoma of the skin or in situ carcinoma of the cervix

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• No prior radiotherapy to the local site
• No prior neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy