RATIONALE: Studying samples of tissue from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to cancer.

PURPOSE: This research study is looking at biomarkers in tissue samples from young patients with acute myeloid leukemia previously enrolled on clinical trial POG-9421.

OBJECTIVES:

• To profile basal and potentiated phospho-protein networks (PPPNs) using tissue samples from pediatric patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) previously enrolled on clinical trial POG-9421.
• To classify AML-based signal transduction mechanisms.
• To correlate profiles of basal and PPPNs with specific molecular lesions (e.g., FLT3-ITD, NPM, WT1, c-kit, CEPBα, PASGΔ75, and karyotype) and profiles of gene expression in tumor tissue samples.

OUTLINE: Banked tissue samples are collected for laboratory studies, including phospho-protein signaling and gene expression profiling studies.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia, meeting 1 of the following criteria:

  • Primary induction failure (i.e., failed to achieve remission within the first 60 days of therapy)
  • Relapsed disease (early or late)
  • In continuous complete remission

• Previously enrolled on POG-9421

• Tissue samples available

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Not specified

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics

Previously enrolled on POG 9421