Establishment and characterisation of primary GBM cell lines

Glioblastoma multiforma still has a very poor prognosis even with today's aggressive combination therapy of resection followed by radio-chemotherapy. This underlines the necessity of new therapeutical strategies. Established glioblastoma cell lines may contain numerous selection artefacts, and they do not represent the large heterogeneity of molecular characteristics in patients. An elegant yet simple solution is the establishment of permanent individual patient tumor cell lines. These represent an invaluable source for detailed molecular, biochemical or functional analyses. Based on a close cooperation and logistics between surgery, pathology, laboratory researchers and animal care facilities, we cultured cell lines of about 25 primary brain tumors, mostly GBM. Cell lines were characterised by morphology, growth behaviour, expression of numerous extra- and intracellular antigens, molecular features (MGMT-promoter methylation, IDH1+2 mutation, EGFR copy number, and others), revealing a heterogeneous pattern in each case. In the field of individualised approaches, these cell lines permit a multitude of in vitro-studies analysing or predicting the efficacy of immunological, small molecular, biological-based or other therapeutic strategies.

The project was supported by the Förderkreis für krebskranke Kinder Rostock e.V., and a Mecklenburg-Vorpommern graduate scholarship