NPC/HK1 Cells

NPC/HK1 (also designated HK-1 or HK1) is a human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell line established from the nasopharynx of a 58-year-old Chinese male patient. NPC/HK1 grows as an adherent epithelial monolayer with a doubling time of approximately 28 ± 2 hours. NPC/HK1 is a widely used model for undifferentiated NPC, a malignancy strongly associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and particularly prevalent in Southeast Asian populations. The line was established in Hong Kong and provides an EBV-negative or low-EBV model that complements EBV-positive NPC lines for studying EBV-independent aspects of NPC biology.
NPC/HK1 is applicable in studies of nasopharyngeal carcinoma biology, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, invasion and metastasis, EBV biology (infection and latency comparisons with EBV-positive lines), EGFR pathway signalling, and chemotherapy/radiotherapy sensitivity. The line is used in xenograft models in immunocompromised hosts and as part of NPC cell line panels for comparative pharmacological and molecular studies. Its Chinese male donor origin reflects the population at highest risk for NPC and is relevant for studies of EBV epidemiology and NPC immunogenomics.