Gene Expression Profiling in Normal Tissue and Tumor Tissue From Patients With Colon Cancer That Has Spread to the Liver, Lungs, or Peritoneum

OBJECTIVES: * Evaluate gene expression profiles in normal and tumor tissue from patients with colon cancer metastatic to the liver, lungs, or peritoneum. * Establish cell lines from primary colon tumors metastatic to the liver, lungs, or peritoneum. * Determine the specific gene expression changes that result in the manifestation of the drug-resistant phenotype for each metastatic site. OUTLINE: This is a pilot study. Tumor and normal tissue collected during surgery are analyzed for gene expression profiling by cDNA microarray. Tissue is also analyzed for thymidylate synthase (TS) gene expression by quantitative PCR and for protein expression by western blot. Gene expression patterns are correlated with TS levels.