[Cholesterol content and malignant proliferation of cancer cells]

The relationship between cholesterol content and proliferation of cancer cells was studied. When the cholesterol content of cancer cells increased. cAMP content of the cells also increased; the agglutinability of the cells decreased; the percentage of diploid cells increased greatly (from 54% to 79%) and the tetraploid cells reduced rapidly (from 43% to 15%). It was shown that the malignant proliferation of cancer cells decreased obviously. The cholesterol was not absorbed markedly by the V79 cell line and embryo lung cells as compared with the cancer cells when cholesterol content in the medium was increased. There were no apparent changes in the percentages of diploid cells or tetraploid cells.