Where have all the cell lines gone?

摘要

Numerous cancer genes including, BRAE, HRAS, KRAS, MYC, PTEN and RB1, were first identified in cancer cell lines (CCL), which as a bonus permit high-throughput drug screening. However, most CCL in use date from the 1960s to 1980s and, as we argue here, urgently require updating. We have tracked the establishment of ~1600 human leuke-mia/lymphoma cell lines, the easiest group to document, from the doyens of this group RAJI and JIJOYE in 1963, until present (Fig. 1a). After a faltering start original reports, nevertheless, climbed from the mid '70s until the early '90s, thereafter receding. In 2009-2010 barely 10 new leukemia/ lymphoma CL were described. Assuming similar demographics for solid tumor CCL, why should the curve of invention now point downwards? Here we seek possible explanations and argue that, instead, more CCL are needed.