Name of the Study
Prospective Study of Clinical, Laboratory, Genetic, and Epidemiologic Characterization of Individuals and Families at High Risk for Hematologic Cancers (NCI-02-C-0210). See the protocol summary at http://cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/NCI-02-C-0210.

Principal Investigators
Dr. Neil Caporaso and Dr. Mary McMaster, NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics

Why Is This Study Important?
Hematologic cancers are cancers of the blood, lymphatic system, or bone marrow, such as leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. Together, these diseases constitute the fourth most common form of cancer, with more than 100,000 new cases a year in the United States.

Researchers want to study individuals and families who may have a genetic predisposition to developing hematologic cancers. Studying this population may help identify other persons at risk, precursor conditions, clues to etiology, and the genes involved in these malignancies.

"We have compared DNA from family members affected by chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with those family members not affected by CLL through linkage analysis," said Dr. Caporaso. "This allows us to identify areas of the DNA that may harbor a gene or genes responsible for causing the disease."

"We are also recruiting families having more than one member diagnosed with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma so that we can conduct analyses to identify genes that may predispose people to these cancers," said Dr. McMaster.

Who Can Join This Study?
Researchers seek to enroll participants who may be at high risk for developing hematologic cancers. See the full list of eligibility criteria for this study at http://cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/NCI-02-C-0210.

Where Is This Study Taking Place?
The study will be conducted at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Who to Contact
Contact the NCI Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Genetic Epidemiology Branch referral nurse at 1-800-518-8474, or call the NCI Clinical Studies Support Center (CSSC) at 1-888-NCI-1937. The call is toll free and confidential.