Collecting Tissue Samples From Patients With Leukemia or Other Blood Disorders Planning to Enroll in an ECOG Leukemia Treatment Clinical Trial

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Candidate for enrollment on an ECOG treatment clinical trial for acute or chronic leukemia * Suspected clinical diagnosis and protocol ID number of the treatment clinical trial under consideration must be submitted to ECOG's Leukemia Translational Studies Laboratory to ensure that the required antibody panels are used and functional assays are performed * Chosen ECOG treatment clinical trial must be active and accruing * Patient must not have begun treatment on the ECOG treatment clinical trial * Patient may be concurrently enrolled on this laboratory study and a treatment clinical trial if immediate treatment is medically necessary * If subsequent diagnostic review alters the original diagnosis, the patient will be removed from the treatment clinical trial PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: * Not specified PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: * See Disease Characteristics