Yano H, Iemura A, Haramaki M, Momosaki S, Ogasawara S, Higaki K, Kojiro M. A human combined hepatocellular and cholangiocarcinoma cell line (KMCH-2) that shows the features of hepatocellular carcinoma or cholangiocarcinoma under different growth conditions.
J Hepatol 1996;
24:413-22. [PMID:
8738727 DOI:
10.1016/s0168-8278(96)80161-9]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIMS
Combined hepatocellular and cholangiocarcinoma is a rare tumor of the liver, and its histogenesis remains unclear. The authors addressed this issue in the current article.
METHODS
A specimen aseptically obtained from the surgically resected combined hepatocellular and cholangiocarcinoma was processed for primary culture. The morphologic features of the established cell line cultured on a plastic dish and in type I collagen gel matrix, and transplanted in nude mice were examined.
RESULTS
The authors established a new human combined hepatocellular and cholangiocarcinoma cell line, designated KMCH-2, from a 40-year-old Japanese man. KMCH-2 cells on a plastic dish proliferated in a monolayered sheet with a population doubling time of 32 to 44 h. KMCH-2 expressed functional characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma, such as albumin synthesis at protein and mRNA levels, but were poorly differentiated in morphology, showing an overlap of features with cholangiocarcinoma. KMCH-2 cells cultured within type I collagen gel matrix proliferated, forming compact to vaguely trabecular and pseudoglandular arrangements, and differentiated to show morphological characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma unlike the cells on a plastic dish. Mucin production was not detected in KMCH-2 cells in vitro. Subcutaneous tumors which developed in nude mice injected with KMCH-2 cells represented features of adenocarcinoma with mucin production.
CONCLUSIONS
The present results revealed the presence of an albumin-producing human hepatic neoplastic cell, such as KMCH-2, that can differentiate to show not only the features of hepatocellular carcinoma but also those of cholangiocarcinoma under certain growth conditions.
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