Plasma and Urine Samples From Patients With Hormone-Refractory Prostate Cancer Enrolled on Clinical Trials CALGB-9480 or CALGB-9583

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

Correlate plasma and urine vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels with survival duration in patients with advanced hormone-refractory adenocarcinoma of the prostate previously enrolled on CALGB-9480.
Determine whether plasma chromogranin A (CgA) and plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels predict survival duration in these patients.
Determine whether plasma human Kallikrein 2 (hK2) levels are prognostic for overall survival of these patients.

Secondary

Determine the prognostic significance of plasma and urine VEGF levels, plasma CgA levels, plasma IL-6 levels, and plasma hK2 levels in relation to overall survival of these patients.
Correlate plasma VEGF levels with urine VEGF levels in these patients.
Correlate plasma CgA levels with previously measured serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and plasma VEGF levels in these patients.
Correlate plasma hK2 levels with PSA changes after treatment with suramin to determine if hK2 may have predictive value, independent or additive to measures of disease response in these patients.
Correlate plasma hK2 levels with PSA levels in these patients.

OUTLINE: Plasma from patients is collected for measurement of the following biomarkers: vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), chromogranin A, interleukin-6, and human Kallikrein 2. Urine is collected for VEGF measurement.