Abstract
Two human cell lines were established from untreated squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck. Line 183 was derived from a head and neck squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil and 1483 from a head and neck squamous cell carcinoma of the retromolar trigone. Both lines grow in a cobblestone pattern demonstrating their epithelial heritage. Immunofluorescence studies and one-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that both lines contain cytokeratins. Line 1483 is more aggressive in nude mice, has a higher efficiency for anchorage-independent growth, expresses p21ras (product of the ras oncogene) at a higher level, and is more aneuploid than 183. 1483 also grows as a multicellular tumor spheroid. Line 1483, which was established from the primary tumor of a patient with nodal metastasis, thus displays more progressed characteristics than line 183, which was established from a patient with no clinically positive nodes.
Footnotes
-
↵1 This work was supported by NIH grants CA29255 and CA38903 from the National Cancer Institute.
-
↵2 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Department of Tumor Biology, P. O. Box 108, University of Texas System Cancer Center, M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030.
- Received July 13, 1987.
- Revision received December 22, 1987.
- Accepted February 22, 1988.
- ©1988 American Association for Cancer Research.