1. patients 18 years of age and older are eligible.

2. patients must have a performance status of ecog 0, 1, 2, or 3 for admission to this protocol.

3. patients with malignancy are eligible.

4. patients requiring a surgical procedure for any medical indication can be included on study.

5. patients requiring biopsy or any procedure for any medical indication can be included on study.

6. patients not requiring biopsy for a medical indication can be included on the study solely for the purpose of obtaining research samples, including blood, pleural fluid, or peritoneal fluid, or biopsy samples, providing the biopsy or aspiration procedure is of minimal risk, i.e. fine needle aspirate, bone marrow aspirate, or excisional biopsy. no radiology tests will be used in the procedure to collect a sample that would not be otherwise used for an appropriate medical indication.

7. normal volunteers 18 years of age and older are eligible to enroll. normal volunteers must be willing to sign informed consent and must be willing to provide samples to be used for research.

1. pregnant individuals will not be eligible due to potential risks to the fetus associated with radiologic procedures required for biopsy.

2. children will not be eligible because of potential risks from complications due to procedures involved in obtaining the biopsies.

3. normal volunteers with a history of a clotting disorder may not enroll.