RATIONALE: Gathering information about patients with a personal or family history of cancer associated with a virus may help doctors learn more about the disease.

PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying patients with a personal or family history of cancer caused by a virus.

OBJECTIVES:

• Conduct clinical, laboratory, and epidemiologic studies of patients with a personal or family history of viral-associated cancer.

OUTLINE: Patients undergo an interview, physical examination, and blood sample collection. Other clinically indicated biological samples, such as urine, sputum, saliva, tears, or semen or cervical, anal, oral, or nasal swabs, are collected. Skin testing with conventional, licensed antigens for assessment of cellular immunity may be performed, and skin lesions may be biopsied or excised. Tumor or other tissue biopsies may be obtained when biopsy or surgery is clinically indicated. The biological samples are frozen or preserved for current or future research studies.

Patients receive counseling relevant to the disease under study, and about the interim study results. Clinical referrals are made as needed.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Personal or family history of viral-associated neoplasia of an unusual type, pattern, or number including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Kaposi sarcoma
  • Leukemia
  • Lymphoma

• Known or suspected factor(s) predisposing to neoplasia, including any of the following:

  • Environmental exposure (particularly immunological or virological exposure)
  • Genetic or congenital factors (e.g., Mendelian traits predisposing to neoplasia, birth defects, or chromosomal anomalies)
  • Unusual demographic features
• Referred to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Viral Epidemiology Branch

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Not specified

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• Not specified