Novel cancer cell lines derived from primary breast tumors in Chinese patients

Although many breast cancer cell lines have been used for cancer research during the past several decades, few have originated from primary tumors in Asian patients. Moreover, the incidence of breast cancer has been increasing rapidly in China during this time period. Therefore, it is essential to establish breast cancer cell lines from Chinese patients. Here, we report the establishment of three new breast cancer cell lines, designated BC-023, BC-024, and BC-034, from breast carcinoma tissues of three Chinese patients. These breast cancer cell lines grew as adherent monolayers with characteristic epithelial morphology and were maintained continuously in vitro with stable growth rates for at least 20 passages. No bacterial, fungal, or mycoplasma contamination was detected in any of the three cell lines. Additionally, these cells were human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (C-erbB-2)-positive. All three cell lines had comparable population doubling times of 33-39 h and reproducibly formed colonies in soft agar. Furthermore, these cells displayed aggressive tumorigenicity. Thus, every characteristic of each of these cell lines meets the quality control standards of the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC). We used drug sensitivity testing with growth-inhibition assays and showed that these three lines expressed a wide range of sensitivities to cisplatin (DDP) and adriamycin (ADR). These studies indicate that these three novel cell lines may provide new models for studying cancer biology and for screening new drugs for breast cancer treatment, especially for the Chinese population.