Establishment and analysis of biological characteristics of a human duodenal carcinoma cell line, WDC-1.

Background: Duodenal carcinoma is very rare and its culture cell lines have rarely been established.

Methods: Tumor cells separated from a surgically resected primary tumor of duodenal carcinoma were put into culture. The patient was an 81-year-old female and had metastatic lymph nodes. We investigated the biological characteristics of the culture cells including in vitro cell kinetics, karyotype, expression of tumor markers and integrins and tumorigenicity and histology in nude mice.

Results: A new cell line, designated WDC-1, was established. This duodenal carcinoma cell line proliferated in a monolayered sheet with a doubling time of 50 h. The histological findings of the xenograft in nude mice were similar to those of the primary tumor. WDC-1 cells produced carcinoembryonic antigen and expressed 1 integrin and very late antigen (VLA)-4d in vitro.

Conclusions: A duodenal carcinoma cell line was established, which is rare and may contribute to progress in understanding the biological features of duodenal cancer.