Establishment of a cell line (HCC-M) from a human hepatocellular carcinoma.

A continuous human cell line was established from a hepatocellular carcinoma of an HBsAg-positive Japanese male. The cell line, designated HCC-M, grows as an adhering monolayer with a doubling time of 24 h in medium RPMI-1640 supplemented with 10% FCS and grows with 30% clonal efficiency in soft agar. The cells have been shown by light and electron microscopy to be of epithelial type. When they were transplanted subcutaneously into the back of athymic nude mice (BALB/c, nu/nu), tumors developed at the sites of inoculation, which were shown to be hepatocellular carcinoma, similar in morphology to the original tumor from which they were derived. HCC-M had a chromosome mode of 63 with five identifiable marker chromosomes. HCC-M produced albumin at the 10th passage but this property was lost by the 30th passage. This cell line has not secreted alpha-fetoprotein. Hepatitis B viral particles or HBsAg have not been demonstrated in the cells from the primary culture nor in several subsequent subcultures tested.