The cross-contaminated cell lines of adenoid cystic carcinoma: A crucial concern

Abstract

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a common type of salivary gland cancer, characterized by slow growth but high incidence of distant metastasis. Distant metastasis occurs in 25%–50% of ACC patients and more commonly in lungs. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the aggressive growth of ACC remains obscure. Human tumor cell lines are extremely useful in studying cancer biology, under both in vitro and in vivo condition. Unfortunately, the tumor cell lines are susceptible to cross-contamination, by other cell lines, during routine culture. Recent studies have proved that most of the ACC cell lines, established for preclinical research, are either cross-contaminated or nonhuman cells. Here, we review the literature assessing the identity of ACC cell lines, dated up to September 1, 2016, using PubMed, EMBASE, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases with the following keywords: “adenoid cystic carcinoma,” “cell line,” and “characterization” or “contamination.” According to the results, only salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC)-83/SACC-lung metastasis, the HPV-transformed ACC-112 and the two newly established moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma-ACC-01 and LACC-1 cell lines are authentic ACC cell lines. These results suggest that, in the future, it is crucial to authenticate the ACC cell lines before research.