Establishment and characterization of a novel cancer cell line (SMOV-1), derived from the ascitic fluid of a woman with ovarian cancer who had never responded to chemotherapeutic drugs.

A novel cell line, designated SMOV-1, was established from the ascitic fluid of a woman with ovarian cancer. This report describes the process of establishment and characterization of this cell line. The case involved a woman who had undergone a surgical intervention, due to a serous papillary adenocarcinoma of the ovary. She received the combination chemotherapy of PAC (cisplatin +doxorubicin+cyclophosphamide) 6 times after the surgery. However, as a result of malignant pleural effusion during chemotherapy, she died 7 months after surgery. Before surgery, ascitic fluid was removed from the patient for cell culture, after obtaining her consent. The cells were successfully subcultured, and designated SMOV-1. The cell line gave a pavement-stone pattern, without contact inhibition. SMOV-1 could also be transplanted into nude mice, and the tissue showed reconstruction of the original tumor. The chromosome number of the SMOV-1 cells was 57, and the DNA index was 2.28. The population-doubling time of the SMOV-1 cells was 61.4 hours. Cultured SMOV-1 cells were still capable of producing the tumor-associated antigens CA 125, CA 19-9, and sTn (sialosyl-Tn). We propose that this novel cell line is of possible use for the investigation of drug resistance in ovarian cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]