Studying Biomarkers in Cell Samples From Young Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Stat3 Activation as a Potential Prognostic Marker and Therapeutic Target in Pediatric AML

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. It may also help doctors predict how well patients will respond to treatment.

PURPOSE: This research study is looking at biomarkers in cell samples from young patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

OBJECTIVES:

• To characterize Stat3 signaling pathway activity in primary tissue samples from pediatric patients with acute myeloid leukemia to determine the percentage of samples with increased activity and to better understand the mechanisms leading to increased activity.
• To evaluate the presence of constitutive Stat3 activation and the sensitivity of Stat3 activation to low and high doses of cytokines.
• To evaluate the expression levels of Stat3 protein as well as upstream and downstream regulators of Stat3 activation.
• To classify tissue samples according to a Stat3-activation pattern, and to correlate this result with event-free survival and overall survival in order to determine whether increased Stat3 phosphorylation at diagnosis predicts poor outcome.

OUTLINE: Cryopreserved cell samples are collected for laboratory analysis, including immunoblotting, fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS), and protein analysis.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Diagnosis of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Not specified

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• Not specified