A Cellosaurus-based systematic survey of sarcoma cell lines identifies critical gaps in public availability and...

Sarcomas are rare mesenchymal malignancies with marked histological and molecular heterogeneity. Robust preclinical models are essential for therapeutic development, and tumor-derived cell lines remain widely used, because they are experimentally tractable and scalable. In sarcomas, the cell lines are scarce and often discontinued for distribution even after being registered in the public cell banks. Because generating and maintaining cell lines are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly, evidence-based prioritization of subtypes for cell line development is needed to promote sarcoma research. Here, we performed a systematic survey of sarcoma cell lines using Cellosaurus (version 54, November 2025), integrating publication status, registration in public cell banks, and current availability for distribution. From 167,127 Cellosaurus entries, we defined 87,573 unique human cell lines after excluding non-human entries and derivative or modified sublines. We identified 1080 human sarcoma cell lines, representing 1.2% of unique human cell lines. Only 230 human sarcoma cell lines were registered in public cell banks, and 139 were currently available for distribution. Most sarcoma subtypes had fewer than 10 available cell lines, and 12 sarcoma subtypes had no established cell lines. This updated landscape quantifies subtype-specific cell line scarcity and gaps in public availability and supports strategic prioritization of future sarcoma cell line development. Our findings also highlight practical measures to support long-term accessibility, including timely publication with standardized authentication reporting and guaranteeing repository redundancy via deposition in multiple public cell banks.