ESTABLISHMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF 9 NEW HEAD AND NECK-CANCER CELL-LINES

We established new cell lines from head and neck cancer patients for s tudies of adhesion molecules and cellular behavior in nine patients wi th primary or metastatic cancer treated at the Asan Medical Center. Ex plant cultures of fresh tumor tissue were used to develop new permanen t tumor cell lines. Lines were tested for tumor formation and histolog y in nude mice. Flow cytometry and indirect immunofluorescence were us ed to assess DNA content and expression of the alpha 6, beta 4, and be ta 1 integrin subunits and the intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM -1). In vitro growth patterns and adhesion to plastic were assessed us ing phase contrast microscopy. AMC-HN-1 to -8 were derived from patien ts with squamous cell carcinoma. AMC-HN-9 was from an undifferentiated carcinoma of the parotid gland. The 8 lines we tested produced nude m ouse tumors that are identical to the histology of the original tumors . AMC-HN-1, -2, -5, and -9 have epithelioid or spindle cell morphology with poor cell-to-cell and cell-to-substrate adhesiveness. AMC-HN-3, -4, -7, and -8 grow as adherent epithelioid monolayers. AMC-HN-6 exhib its multilayer stratification. Four lines are near diploid, 4 are hype rdiploid and 1 is hypodiploid. Only three express ICAM-1. All lines ex press the alpha 6, beta 4, and beta 1 integrin subunits but to differe nt extent. Four, AMC-HN-1, -2, -5, and -6, express the beta 4 integrin at low levels, AMC-HN-3, -4, -7, and -9, have intermediate beta 4 exp ression, and AMC-HN-8 has extremely high beta 4 expression. The AMC-HN cell lines are representative in vitro models for the study of head a nd neck cancer biology. Our preliminary results indicate a close relat ionship between integrin expression and cell adhesion in vitro.