Cholangiocarcinoma cell line TK may be useful for the pharmacokinetic study of the chemotherapeutic agent gemcitabine.

Cholangiocarcinoma is a disease with a poor prognosis. A human cholangiocarcinoma cell line, TK, was previously established to enable further understanding of the disease. We conducted this investigation to determine whether or not the TK line is useful for pharmacokinetic study of the chemotherapeutic agent gemcitabine (GEM). Along with the BXPC3 human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell line, the sensitivity to and effects on the TK cell line of GEM were compared. The influence of deoxycytidine kinase (dCK) transduction was also comparatively investigated. The effects of GEM in terms of drug sensitivity of the TK cell line, cell cycle and levels of transcripts of key enzymes were comparable to the BXPC3 cell line. Responses to the drug were similar in both cell lines. In contrast to pancreatic carcinoma, cell lines for research on cholangiocarcinoma have been limited. This study suggests the application of the TK cell line to the pharmacokinetic study of the chemosensitization of therapeutic drugs, such as GEM.