Experimental model of human lung cancer Part I. Establishment and characterization of new tissue culture cell lines from human squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the lung.

Two human lung cancer cell lines designated as EBC-1 and ABC-1 were newly established for the purpose of making an in vitro experimental model of human lung cancer. The EBC-1 line was established from a metastatic skin tumor of a patient with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. The cells grew in a monolayered sheet with a population-doubling time of 42 hr. The chromosome number showed wide variation from 35 to 102 with a modal peak at 53. The ABC-1 line was established from pleural effusion of a patient with adenocarcinoma of the lung. The cells grew mainly in a floating clump with a population-doubling time of 72 hr. Karyotypic analysis disclosed a wide variation from 25 to 57 with two modal peaks at 53 and 54. The EBC-1 and ABC-1 lines may be useful for biological, cytopharmacological and therapeutic studies of human squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the lung.