Characterization of four newly established human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell lines from Chinese patients.

Four colon adenocarcinoma cell lines, CC-M2, CC-M3, CC-M4, and CC-M2NM, have been established from surgical specimens of 18 unselected patients without the use of "feeder" cells and additional growth factors (e.g., insulin, hydrocortisone, etc.) in the culture medium. The methods of primary cultivation of tissue explants are described. Studies of determination of morphology, growth curve, plating efficiency, chromosomal analysis, CEA and beta-HCG synthesis, and tumorigenicity, were done to characterize the cell lines. Significant variations have been found in one of the four cell lines, both in vitro and in vivo studies. There are distinct phenotypes in the established cell lines which may be useful in studying the cell differentiation and progression of colorectal cancer.