ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CELL BANK FOR PEDIAT RIC TUMORS OF THE SOCIETY FOR PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY AND HEMATOLOGY

Characterized cell lines are absolutely necessary in applied research of cell biology and medicine. For the completion of diagnosis and ther apy especially in pediatric oncology we are establishing a Cell Bank f or Pediatric Tumors. The Cell Bank for Pediatric Tumors collects tissu e samples of different types of solid malignant tumors from children a nd young adults. The specimens are transferred to in vitro culture (gu idelines of the American Type Culture Collection - ATCC), the resultin g cells are characterized to assure accordance with the histogenesis o f the original tumor and stored in liquid nitrogen. The cell cultures are characterized morphologically (phase contrast mircro-scopy) and im munocytochemically (ABC-method). To prove the malignancy of cells in p rimary culture the amount of hypertretraploid cells was determined (DN A-Scanning-Cytophotometry). Cell lines are checked to find out whether they develop tumors in nude mice followed by an analysis of the karyo type. Additional investigations (e.g. in vitro test of cytostatic drug resistance) are carried out on request by the sender. Part of the tum or tissue which is used to start the cell culture is in parallel diagn osed histopathologically at the Children's Tumor Register, Kiel and/or at the Charite. By the end of the year 1995 the Cell Bank for Pediatr ic Tumors had received 183 different specimens including 123 solid tum ors (e.g. 24 neuroblastomas, 18 osteosarcomas, 12 Wilms' tumors, 13 rh abdomyosarcomas), 44 tissue specimens without any malignant cells, 8 p robes without vital cells and 8 leukemias and lymphomas. We were able to establish primary cell cultures of 50% of the sterile tumor tissue probes, to cultivate them for a minimum of 5-10 passages, to character ize and freeze them. Six out of these tumor cell lines were already cu ltivated for one year and are available to the scientific community.