UCI-VULV-I, A VULVAR SQUAMOUS CARCINOMA CELL-LINE

Squamous carcinoma of the vulva (SCV) is an uncommon neoplasm of uncer tain etiology. There is evidence that there are two subgroups of SCV, one associated with human papilloma virus (HPV) and a second HPV-negat ive group. The UCI-VULV-1 cell line, obtained from a lymph node metast asis of an SCV, grows with a population doubling time of approximately 60 hr. The saturation density is 10(5) cells/cm(2). The cell line doe s not exhibit anchorage independence and is weakly tumorigenic. The ce lls range in appearance from an abundant spindle cell to a less common larger, flat cell. All of the cells are immunoreactive for high-molec ular-weight keratin, but only the flat cells, which form squamous pear ls in vivo, are immunoreactive for low-molecular-weight keratin. The c ell line expresses epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor-alpha, the EGF receptor, and p53 protein. Polymerase chain reac tion revealed no HPV DNA within the cells, Early passage cells exhibit ed karyotypic heterogeneity with few similarities to previously descri bed SCV karyotypes. The cells display sensitivity to cis-platinum in c oncentrations toxic to many ovarian and cervical carcinoma lines. UCI- VULV-1 may be helpful for studying the properties of the HPV-negative form of SCV. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.