Collecting and Storing Tissue, Blood, and Bone Marrow Samples From Patients With Rhabdomyosarcoma or Other Soft Tissue Sarcoma

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. Collect human tumor tissue and other biological specimens (blood, serum, and bone marrow) from patients with rhabdomyosarcoma or non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcoma diagnosed and/or treated at a Children's Oncology Group (COG) member institution. II. Provide a repository for storage of tissue and other biological specimens collected by COG investigators from these patients. III. Make these specimens available for approved projects by laboratory-based investigators. IV. Collect clinical data on these patients who are not being treated on a COG therapeutic study. V. Define and compare the clinical features of patient subgroups with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma whose tumors carry the t(2;13), t(1;13) or neither translocation. VI. Investigate the relationship between evidence of submicroscopic disease and response rate (CR/PR), failure-free survival, and survival of patients with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, as determined by positive or negative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay for the t(2:13) and t(1:13) on peripheral blood and bone marrow specimens obtained at diagnosis. VII. Compare the clinical, cytogenetic, and molecular biologic features of patient subgroups with anaplastic rhabdomyosarcoma and other subtypes of rhabdomyosarcoma. OUTLINE: Surgical tissue, bone marrow, and blood specimens are collected at diagnosis (initial or relapse) and, if applicable, at the development of a second primary tumor. Specimens are used for research purposes. A certificate of confidentiality protecting the identity of research participants in this project has been issued by the National Cancer Institute. Patients who are not enrolled on a Children's Oncology Group treatment trial are followed every 6 months for at least 10 years or until disease progression or development of a second malignancy.