Genetic Study of Newly Diagnosed Central Nervous System Tumors in Young Children

OBJECTIVES:

• Identify known genes that have significantly different levels of expression, using microarray gene chip analysis, in infants with newly diagnosed metastatic vs non-metastatic embryonal central nervous system tumors.
• Determine the protein expression of genes identified by microarray analysis that are involved in cellular functions that regulate angiogenesis, invasion, or metastasis in this patient population.
• Determine the quantity of gene expression of the confirmed translationally expressed genes using semi-quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.

Tumor samples are analyzed using microarray gene chip analysis. Differentially expressed genes are evaluated for protein expression by standard immunohistochemistry and/or Western blot analysis, and gene expression is further quantified by semi-quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: Approximately 80-100 patients (20-25 with metastatic disease and 60-75 with non-metastatic disease) will be accrued for this study within 4-5 years.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed, newly diagnosed, primary intracranial embryonal central nervous system tumor

• Medulloblastoma
• Primitive neuroectodermal tumor
• Medulloepithelioma
• Ependymoblastoma
• Neuroblastoma
• Pineoblastoma
• Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor
• Intracranial germ cell tumor
• Choroid plexus carcinoma
• M positive ependymoma
• Potential enrollment on PBTC-001 therapeutic protocol

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

• Under 3

Performance status:

• Not specified

Life expectancy:

• Not specified

Hematopoietic:

• Not specified

Hepatic:

• Not specified

Renal:

• Not specified

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy:

• Not specified

Chemotherapy:

• No prior chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy:

• Prior steroids allowed

Radiotherapy:

• No prior radiotherapy

Surgery:

• Not specified

Other:

• No concurrent investigational agents