No abstract

To date, very few reports of the establishment of gall-bladder cancer cell lines have appeared, although many cancer cell lines of various kinds have been established. On the other hand, no reports could be found on signet ring cell carcinoma cell lines derived from the gall-bladder and only five cell lines from the stomach. A human gall-bladder cancer cell line (FU-GBC-2) was established in tissue culture from the ascitic fluid of a 69-year-old Japanese female patient. The tumor cells growing in tissue culture exhibited the morphological characteristics of signet ring cells in phase contrast and electron microscopy. The population doubling time was 43 hours. Heterotransplantation was succeeded by inoculation into the dermis of BALB/c nude mice. An immunocytochemical study showed that most of the cultured cells were positive for carcinoembryonic antigen, CA19-9 and epithelial membrane antigen, but negative for vimentin. The modal chromosome number was 120 with a range of 100-124. Flow cytometry showed an aneuploidy pattern in the cultured cells at passage 30. Markedly amplified c-myc oncogene was observed by Southern blot analysis. This cell line may be useful in the study of the morphological and biological characteristics of signet ring cell carcinoma and gall-bladder adenocarcinoma.

No abstract

A cell strain (FU-GBC-1) was established from cancerous ascites of a 68-year-old male patient with well-differentiated adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder. By light and electron microscopy, the cultured cells showed the morphologic features of adenocarcinoma characterized by gland-like structures, intracellular microcystic spaces, and mucous production. Immunoperoxidase stains showed that FU-GBC-1 cells expressed several epithelial tumor antigens including CA 19-9, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and epithelial membrane antigen (EMA). The cell strain has been in continuous culture up to passage 44 for 1 1/2 years, with the population doubling time of 120 hours. The cytogenetic analysis by a G-band technique showed a constant loss of chromosome Y in FU-GBC-1 cells. The modal chromosome number at passage 12 was 82 with a range of 77 to 85. Flow cytometry with an ethidium bromide technique additionally confirmed aneuploid DNA content (4C) in the cultured cells at passage 12 and 35. Inoculation of FU-GBC-1 cells into the dermis of BALB/c nude mice produced transplantable adenocarcinoma identical to the original tumor. Because no continuous cell lines of the well-differentiated type of gallbladder adenocarcinoma have been reported in the literature currently, the newly established cell strain we report may yield a useful system for studying the morphologic and biologic characteristics of gallbladder adenocarcinoma.