Isolation and preliminary characterization of an ovarian carcinoma cell line from a patient with familial ovarian cancer.

An epithelial ovarian cancer cell line is established from a patient with recurrent familial ovarian cancer. Two of the patient's sisters and her mother have also had ovarian cancer. The histological resemblance of the cell line to the patient's Stage IV, Grade 3 papillary serous ovarian primary cancer is striking. The cell line does not secrete CA125 and is estrogen and progesterone receptor negative. Overexpression of the p53 tumor suppressor gene but not the HER-2/neu oncogene was detected by immunohistochemical analysis. An unusual chemosensitivity to cisplatin, doxorubicin, etoposide, and taxol is demonstrated, suggesting that a chemosensitivity mechanism might explain prolonged survival of some patients with familial ovarian cancers. This truly unique cell line should prove invaluable in the further evaluation of molecular genetic changes associated with familial ovarian cancers.