Molecular Genetics Studies of Cancer Patients and Their Relatives

Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To identify rare cancer patients and families in whom the pattern of disease suggests a genetic susceptibility to cancer or other etiology suggestive of a carcinogenic exposure and to characterize the underlying predisposition.

II. To determine the contribution of heredity (genotype) and biomarkers to clinical outcome (phenotype, occurrence of new cancers, prognosis and quality of life) in subgroups of cancer patients with and without clinical high-risk features.

OUTLINE:

Patients may provide a sample of blood, a saliva sample, a sample of eyebrow plucks, a sample of urine, and/or stored tumor or healthy tissue.