Studying Biomarkers in Samples From Younger Patients With Malignant Germ Cell Tumor Progression

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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RATIONALE: Studying samples of blood and 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 find better ways to treat cancer. PURPOSE: This research trial studies samples from younger patients with malignant germ cell tumor progression.

Detailed Description
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OBJECTIVES: Explore inter-tumoral heterogeneity in DNA methylation by tumor histology. Determine the genomic methylation pattern in the tumors. Correlate methylation pattern with tumor histology and clinical characteristics. Carry out exome capture and massively parallel sequencing on selected germ cell tumors (GCTs) and matched normal tissue. Perform exome capture and Solexa sequencing on a selected set of GCTs. Validate candidate mutations in an independent set of tumors. Determine the expression profile of mRNAs, lincRNAs and microRNAs in the tumors using RNA Seq. OUTLINE: Archived blood and tumor tissue samples are analyzed for genomic methylation pattern, exome capture and sequencing, and candidate mutations by methylation-specific PCR techniques, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays, and Solexa sequencing methods. Results are validated by using pyrosequencing assays and primer-extension assays. Methylation pattern is also associated with each patient's tumor histology and clinical data.

Official Title
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Genomic Signatures of Malignant Germ Cell Tumor Progression: A Retrospective Study of Banked Specimens

Conditions
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Childhood Germ Cell Tumor, Extragonadal Germ Cell Tumor, Ovarian Cancer, Testicular Germ Cell Tumor

Intervention / Treatment
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* Genetic: DNA methylation analysis
* Genetic: RNA analysis
* Genetic: mutation analysis
* Genetic: nucleic acid sequencing
* Genetic: polymerase chain reaction
* Genetic: polymorphism analysis
* Other: laboratory biomarker analysis
* Other: medical chart review


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Tumor and blood specimens from patients registered on the Children Oncology Group (COG) Germ Cell Tumor Protocols, and from other study sites for non-COG patients, including Children's Medical Center, Dallas and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston Patients' clinical data PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Not specified PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Not specified
Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Intervention/Treatment |
| --- |
|Genetic: DNA methylation analysis|nan|
|Genetic: RNA analysis|nan|
|Genetic: mutation analysis|nan|
|Genetic: nucleic acid sequencing|nan|
|Genetic: polymerase chain reaction|nan|
|Genetic: polymorphism analysis|nan|
|Other: laboratory biomarker analysis|nan|
|Other: medical chart review|nan|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Event-free survival |  |  | 
| Genomic prognostic signatures associated with GCTS |  |  | 
| Genetic variants that contribute to GCTS pathogenesis |  |  | 
| Expression of various forms of RNA |  |  | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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recurrent childhood malignant germ cell tumor, recurrent extragonadal germ cell tumor, recurrent malignant testicular germ cell tumor, recurrent ovarian germ cell tumor