UM-HMC-3A Cells

UM-HMC-3A is a human mucoepidermoid carcinoma cell line established from the local recurrence of a salivary gland tumor in an adult patient, several years after surgical resection of the primary lesion. It is part of a matched pair of cell lines (UM-HMC-3A and UM-HMC-3B) derived from the same individual, representing distinct stages of disease progression, namely local recurrence and lymph node metastasis. UM-HMC-3A cells display a stable epithelial-like morphology in vitro, forming cobblestone-like monolayers and maintaining consistent growth characteristics over extended culture, with successful propagation reported beyond 100 passages. Short tandem repeat profiling confirms their origin from the patient tumor and excludes cross-contamination, supporting their reliability as a model system.

UM-HMC-3A demonstrates tumorigenic capacity in vivo, forming xenograft tumors when implanted into immunodeficient mice. These xenografts recapitulate key histopathological features of the original patient tumor, including the presence of both epidermoid-like and mucin-producing cell populations. Periodic Acid–Schiff (PAS) staining reveals mucopolysaccharide production comparable to human tumors, indicating preserved functional differentiation. Compared to its metastatic counterpart (UM-HMC-3B), UM-HMC-3A typically shows slower tumor formation and less consistent initial engraftment, reflecting biological differences associated with local recurrence versus metastatic progression. UM-HMC-3A provides a valuable, well-characterized model for investigating tumor recurrence, epithelial differentiation, and therapeutic responses in salivary gland mucoepidermoid carcinoma.