ESTABLISHMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF 4 HUMAN EPITHELIAL OVARIAN-CARCINOMA CELL-LINES

Background. To develop in vitro models of human ovarian carcinoma, fre sh tumour cells derived from malignant effusions were cultured in vitr o in the presence or absence of serum to establish cell lines. Methods . Cell lines established were characterized by morphology in culture, surface marker expression, cytogenetic analysis, and growth in anchora ge-dependent and anchorage-independent conditions. Results. Four cell lines (MAC-2, RIC-2, SCHM-1, and SIB-1) were established from tumor ce lls isolated from the malignant effusions of four patients with epithe lial ovarian carcinoma. These lines were able to grow in the presence of low concentrations of serum (3%), and two lines grew in the absence of serum (MAC-2 and SIB-1). All cell lines have been grown continuous ly for longer than 6 months. One cell line (SCHM-1) grew only in liqui d medium whereas the other lines grew in both liquid and semi-solid me dia. Chromosome analysis revealed aneuploidy in three of the four line s. All of the lines stained positively for CA-125 and HMFG-2, consiste nt with an epithelial origin. Conclusion. The ability of these cells t o grow in low concentrations of serum or in serum-free conditions shou ld prove useful for the in vitro study of factors affecting the growth of human ovarian carcinoma. The serum-free medium developed will be o f use in the isolation of factors from the conditioned medium of these cell lines and previously established cell lines.