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Establishment, Characterization and Comparison of Seven Authentic Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Cell Lines Retaining Clinical Features of the Original Tumors

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Abstract

Background

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is thought to often be transformed from pre-existing differentiated thyroid cancer. It is one of the most aggressive malignancies and has a dismal prognosis due to its resistance to multimodal therapies. Basic exploratory studies using authentic ATC cell lines that retain its clinical features are necessary. We investigated the characteristics of seven ATC cell lines newly established at our institute to confirm their possible utility for basic studies.

Methods

Seven distinct cell lines from six patients were established. Their molecular characteristics and sensitivities to cytotoxic anti-cancer drugs were investigated and compared with each other, and with the clinical features of the original tumors.

Results

All cells showed extensive chromosomal abnormality and Pax8 expression, indicating human thyroid follicular cell origin. Vascular endothelial growth factor was secreted from all cells, suggesting possible candidacy for targeted therapy. Vimentin was expressed, but E-cadherin expression was lost in all cells but OCUT-1C, which showed different features from those of OCUT-1F derived from the same tumor, suggesting a mixture of cancer cell clones with various degrees of differentiation within a single ATC tumor. Cells were likely to show sensitivity for taxanes, indicating the usefulness of taxanes as the first-line chemotherapy. OCUT-2, a cell line with both B-Raf and PI3 KCA mutation, demonstrated the importance of molecular target-oriented therapy.

Conclusions

Basic studies using authentic ATC cell lines retaining the clinical features of the original tumor are useful models for investigating the mechanism of anaplastic transformation and exploring novel therapeutic strategies.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Kakenhi #25461992). The authors thank Dr. Kento Kurata for his fine contributions in immunohistochemistry of the cells.

Conflict of interest

None declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgical Oncology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka, 545-8585, Japan

    Naoyoshi Onoda, Masanori Nakamura, Naoki Aomatsu, Satoru Noda, Shinichiro Kashiwagi & Kosei Hirakawa

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  1. Naoyoshi Onoda
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  2. Masanori Nakamura
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  3. Naoki Aomatsu
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  4. Satoru Noda
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  5. Shinichiro Kashiwagi
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  6. Kosei Hirakawa
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Correspondence to Naoyoshi Onoda.

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Onoda, N., Nakamura, M., Aomatsu, N. et al. Establishment, Characterization and Comparison of Seven Authentic Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Cell Lines Retaining Clinical Features of the Original Tumors. World J Surg 38, 688–695 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-013-2409-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-013-2409-7

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