Establishment and characterization of sublines of LNCaP human prostate cancer cells.

The present study was undertaken to develop a panel of human prostate cancer cell sublines that represent a phenotypic continuum of prostate carcinogenesis. We cloned and established more than two dozen LNCaP sublines from parental LNCaP cells by the limiting dilution method, akin to a fluctuation analysis, in vitro. The newly established LNCaP sublines differ in hormone-sensitivity, anchorage-independent growth ability and rate of PSA production. These LNCaP sublines may represent the naturally occurring heterogeneity in human prostate cancer and, therefore, could be useful for studying the effects of anticarcinogenic agents on cell clones that are derived from the same parental cell population.