NCI-H446 Cells

This cell line was established in 1982 by D. Carney, A.F. Gazdar and associates from the pleural fluid of a patient with small cell cancer of the lung. The original tumor morphology was not characteristic of small cell lung cancer. The cell line is a variant small cell lung cancer in biochemistry and morphology, and expresses neuron specific enolase as well as the brain isoenzyme of creatine kinase. None of L-DOPA decarboxylase, bombesin, vasopressin, oxytocin or gastrin releasing peptide has been detected in the cell line. This cell line exhibits a 20-fold higher degree of c-myc DNA amplification and a 15-fold higher degree of c-myc RNA. The cell line was originally propagated in serum free RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 10 nM of hydrocortisone, 5 microgram/mL of insulin, 10 microgram/mL of transferrin, 10 nM of 17-beta-estradiol, and 30 nM of sodium selenite. Transplantable tumors with non-typical small cell lung cancer histology can be formed by the cells.